


Above the Powder Sky

by luckbringer



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, World Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-18
Updated: 2014-11-11
Packaged: 2018-02-13 16:17:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2157135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckbringer/pseuds/luckbringer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another normal day...but then the TARDIS disappears. The good news? It landed on Earth. The bad news? The Doctor and Rose will have to take a plane to get there. Some fluff with angst-y bits thrown in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A Ten and Rose adventure that takes place sometime after "The Satan Pit". Good fluff, with some angst-y bits thrown in because I couldn't help myself. Hopefully I'll be posting more chapters soon.

It had been one of those rare sunny days in London, with tourists swarming every meter of shade beside their favorite monuments. This was especially true in Hyde Park, where children and young couples crowded the lake in their rented paddleboats and canoes. It had been Rose's idea to take a break from her and the Doctor's strenuous lifestyle by touring Hyde Park. The Doctor had protested against such a domestic trip, but even he had to admit that one day of rest wouldn't mean the end of the universe. And he was rarely in a position to deny Rose Tyler anything.

They'd tried to talk Rose's mum, Jackie, into coming with them, but she was adamant. "You want me to believe that daft alien's not up to something? Mark my words, Rose, something'll happen and you two will end up running for your life. No, I'll stay here and take my chances with the mailman."

Looking back on it, Rose wondered if she should listen to her mum more often. They had been walking through the park, hand in hand, when a boy kicked a football widely and accidently destroyed a pigeon's nest, as well as the eggs inside. Suddenly the boy was attacked by a whole flock of the colorful birds. A well-aimed stone was all it to save the young human from the birds, but naturally, that meant the birds had found themselves a new target.

"Run!" The Doctor yelled, and he and Rose dashed across the pavement in an effort to outrun the aggressive pigeons. "Don't run in a straight line! They're capable of flinging their feathers at us like knives!"

What? Rose thought, What kind of birds are these? Then, as if on cue, one such feather struck the road, barely missing the heel of the Doctor's white converse.

Rose ducked quickly as one bird overshot her head by a few centimeters. She shouted back, "To the TARDIS?"

"To the TARDIS!" Despite the peril, the Doctor shot Rose a maniacal grin and they reached out to clasp hands again. They veered sharply to the right, and Rose found herself laughing with him. Here they were, in the middle of Hyde Park, on a casual Tuesday morning, and doing something that was completely out of the ordinary in the life of a normal human being. Dangerous adventures like these were one of the many aspects of life with the Doctor that Rose had grown accustomed to.

They reached the top of a small hill, and there, beside a mighty English walnut tree, was the TARDIS. No matter the circumstance, the sight of the Doctor's fantastic blue police box made Rose breathe a sigh of relief. And she knew she wasn't the only one who felt that way. The bond between the Doctor and his ship was nigh unbreakable. Rose could only imagine the events they've witnessed, or the private jokes that might pass between them on occasion through the Doctor's telepathic link.

But this was looking to be a very tight escape, even for them. The deadly pigeons had already begun to overtake the duo, and started pecking and pulling at Rose and the Doctor's hair and scalps. The Time Lord heard Rose bite back a yelp of pain as a beak nicked her ear, and his thoughts immediately turned to insuring her safety. It wouldn't be long before their eyes would be in danger. "Get down and cover your head!" he shouted to his companion.

Rose barely heard him over the sound of angry pigeons, but she heard his tone of voice. She threw herself down beside the Doctor and felt his arm raise over her protectively.

The pigeons circled and pecked at their targets a moment more, before they flew back into the canopy of trees. The Doctor and Rose slowly raised their heads, and they smiled and chuckled at their luck as they watched the multi-colored birds circle their location. "Not bad. Not bad at all," the Doctor hummed, flipping from his belly onto his back.

"And we were having such a lovely walk." Rose replied, propping herself up on her side and resting her head on her hand. They had been enjoying themselves. No monsters to face or plots to foil meant that the Doctor had time to do what he did best: awe and amaze his companion with his multitude of knowledge about everything and everyone. He'd been right in the middle of telling Rose about the Suffragettes, who had staged one of their protests in the middle of Hyde Park. "Where'd you learn to throw like that?" she asked him.

"Oh, here and there." He scratched behind his ear, where an errant piece of grass had poked him. "Live as long as me and you tend to pick up a few tricks."

"Is that so?" Rose laughed, and the Doctor's grin widened. Oh, how he adored Rose's smile, almost to the point of craving it. It scared him sometimes, those moments when he was suddenly filled with a thousand reasons why Rose was the most brilliant human in all of creation. They scared him as much as the moments where he could not stop running through the tortuous list of all the reasons why being anywhere near Rose, on that level, was not a good idea. But the way her tongue poked through her teeth just so…he could be lost for centuries in that smile and never wish to be found.

So lost was he that the Doctor barely registered the nearby tourists, some of whom had seen the chase and were confused as to why pigeons were attacking Hyde Park visitors. Rose happened to notice a few who looked like young, single women curious about the handsome stranger. But they quickly rethought their fantasies when they saw the look in Rose's eyes.

Was she being possessive? Perhaps, and rightfully so. What happened in 18th-century France was not something that could easily be forgotten.

"So what are those birds, Doctor?" She asked, flopping down on her back beside him. She was grateful for the quickly-dispersing crowd. "Are they some breed of intergalactic pigeon?"

He chuckled. "You could say that. They're commonly known as Klights, and travel through the stars on passing comets. Or at least, they used to. One of the Klight flocks found Earth, and word spread throughout the universe that this planet was the place to go for good food and relative safety. Coupled with the fact that they fit in perfectly with the local pigeon population, and they chose to stay here for good. They're usually pretty peaceful, but they can hold enormous grudges, especially if someone's responsible for killing a flock member."

Rose nodded and looked back up to the birds. She squinted at them. "What are they doing now?"

The Time Lord glanced upwards, and his smile faded. The birds were still circling in their own little flock, but with every pass they drew closer to the TARDIS. "Hold on…" he muttered, sitting up.

Suddenly the Klights let out a raucous cry and dove at the TARDIS. In seconds they had the box surrounded. The Doctor jumped to his feet and charged them, screaming, "What are you doing? Stop!"

But the birds had already managed to somehow lift the TARDIS off the ground by the time the Doctor and Rose reached them. A sharp wind picked up, and Rose thought she could detect a slight humming sound as the Klight flock picked up speed. Then, all at once, the birds seemed to collapse in on themselves, and they vanished, taking the TARDIS with them.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" The Doctor swatted at the space where his ship had been and scowled. "You didn't have to do that!"

Rose took a small step forward, but didn't attempt to encroach on the Doctor's space. A Time Lord's anger need room to vent. But then again, if she didn't calm him down soon, someone might think to call the police, if they hadn't done so already. "Doctor", she asked him, "Doctor, where's the TARDIS?"

"Minor temporal displacement hole," he muttered darkly, "A primitive jump in space and time, used by even the most basic of species for a quick getaway. But unlike the emergency temporal shift machines use, beast creatures like the Klights need a large reserve of power for even the smallest of leaps. A flock of Klights could generate a little more energy…but now they've got the TARDIS. They can go anywhere, anywhen."

"So we're stuck."

"No, we are not stuck." The Doctor didn't even pause to consider that possibility. "Because those thick-headed space pigeons have forgotten that my ship isn't just a battery that anyone can use as they please. She's a sentient being. Right now the TARDIS is flying through the Time Vortex, trying to shake off those birds. She'll try to land as close to our location as she can but I have no way of knowing where or when that might be."

"But you'll know where the TARDIS lands once she re-enters our time stream, yeah?" The Doctor nodded, still staring at the square-shaped pattern of squished grass where the TARDIS had stood. Though he was as distant as ever, Rose felt her shoulders sag in relief.

"Could be worse," Rose said, grinning in spite of the situation. "At least we're on a hospitable planet. And we can stay with my mum."

The Doctor's eyes widened in mock horror, and Rose laughed out loud. "Oh no. Anything but that," he whined.

"Oh, don't be like that. Sure, we don't have an extra bed for you to sleep in, other than the couch. And the fact that mum won't be too happy with having to provide food for two extra people. And I doubt she'll have time to deal with us, given her two jobs and everything…" Rose groaned and rubbed her temple. "God, she's gonna kill us, isn't she?"

"She might not have time to. We could only be here for an hour, or a day or two."

"Or a whole week," Rose retorted, but she regretted her words as soon as she saw the effect they had on the Doctor. If possible, his mouth set itself into an even thinner line, and his eyes betrayed terror that her words might come true. Rose couldn't blame him. A Doctor without his TARDIS? The mental image alone felt unnatural and distinctly wrong.

Though she doubted the TARDIS would be gone for more than a day (how long did it take to dislodge a flock of space pigeons?), Rose hoped the ship's absence didn't stretch on longer than that. She didn't want a repeat of the impossible planet incident. Not when the memory of red-eyed Ood and a forlorn Doctor was still so fresh.

Rose looked up and, seeing the look in the Doctor's eyes, clasped his hand tightly in hers. No doubt his sudden black mood was brought on by similar memories. "Hey," she said, drawing the Doctor's gaze back to her. "We'll take it one day at a time, alright? Just like we've always done."

The Doctor smiled slightly and returned her squeeze. His smile, no matter how tight, was an improvement, though, and Rose was glad for it.

"And besides," Rose continued, grinning, "being stuck with you ain't so bad."

Her repeated phrase made the Doctor chuckle, but Rose was worried as to what the Time Lord's lingering silence meant. Hand in hand, they began the long walk through Hyde Park and back to the Powell Estate, both hoping Jackie Tyler would be receptive to their situation.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some fun at the Powell Estate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! Now that I'm near my laptop again, I'll be able to actually get some work done. The writing's complete, but now it's time for me to sit down and actually type it all up. Hope you enjoy the next few chapters – I know I'm having fun writing them!

After the initial shock, Jackie embraced Rose's idea of her and the Doctor staying with her for the next few days or so.

"Of course you can stay here, sweetheart! And the Doctor, too, if he's up to it," she told them enthusiastically, and she wasn't being sarcastic. It was lonely being the only occupant of their tiny flat, and Rose's week-long events were rare and often cut short by some alien invasion of one type or another, especially if the Doctor was with her. That man seemed to bring trouble with him wherever he went, Jackie mused, and this new event was no exception. She continued, "Your bed's all ready for you whenever you need it. Hasn't been used since you went off adventuring." Jackie flicked her eyes to the Doctor who was sitting on the other side of Rose on the couch. "Sorry, Doctor, but you'll have to sleep out here."

The Doctor waved his hand nonchalantly in the air. "Fine, but I don't need much sleep. Superior biology, me." But the Doctor's reply lacked its usual, upbeat tone. Jackie had wondered about him all through their conversation, as he had sat in an uncharacteristic silence while Rose had explained their problematic situation.

Her daughter now sent the Time Lord a worried look, and Jackie's concern heightened. Had something happened between them on a distant planet? That wasn't uncommon. Often the Doctor and Rose would return to the Powell Estate just to enjoy the comforts of home, as a break from all the bad they'd seen. Rarely did they tell her all the details, but then again, Jackie never wanted to know them anyway. Only the most terrible creatures imaginable could be able to faze the Doctor.

Or was there more to the TARDIS' disappearances? The way they were glancing at each other made Jackie wonder if this had happened before.

They sat in a tense silence, Jackie picking at a loose strand coming from her red sweat jacket, and Rose and the Doctor lost in their own little thought bubble that contained no one else but them. Then Jackie remembered something that made her groan inwardly. "Oh, I'm daft. I forgot to mention. Tom's coming over tonight."

The Doctor smiled at her and seemed to shake himself out of his stupor. "Wonderful! The more the merrier!" Then he glanced at Rose and saw the incredulous look she was giving her mum. "Is there a problem?"

"The problem is Tom the plumber," Rose practically growled. She and her mum got up from their chairs almost at the same time, and quickly walked into the kitchen. Both knew each other well enough to know when a fight might be coming on, and it was always polite to move such a domestic thing away from guests. Plus, both women had a strong feeling that if they had this conversation where the Doctor could hear, he would try to butt in. "Helping", as he called it, though it usually turned out to be anything but.

As Rose faced her mother in the flat's square kitchen, she tried to sort out the thoughts rattling through her head. For some reason, she was stunned by her mum's announcement, and all that such a statement implied. Why was she so stunned? She'd been aware of her mother's placement in the dating circle ever since her dad died. Subtle hints alerted her at first, like being allowed to stay late at a friend's house on random nights, or smelling strange things coming out of Jackie's bedroom. When she was old enough to get the full answer from her mum, it had horrified her at first. Rose remembered getting so angry they both were spewing insults at each other, until one of them had broken down in tears. She forgot who dissolved first, or maybe they'd done it at the same time.

And Rose could hardly blame her for wanting company. She couldn't imagine being alone in this tiny flat, for days on end, wondering whether the last remaining family member was safe, and when they would return. Hoping that they would return eventually. And it was far too cramped in these walls. If Rose could feel the tempting urge to run off and explore the universe after a few hours, how must her mum feel? Maybe she was just stunned by the bluntness of it all. Traveling around time and space must have made her forget about the little things that had been happening right under her nose.

She forced herself to get back to the matter at hand. "Mum, why tonight?"

"Well, it's not like I knew you were coming, did I? No phone calls, nothing from either one of you until you come waltzin' in here this morning. I'm allowed to make my own plans you know."

Rose flinched guiltily at the stab at her lack of phone calls. She tried to dial her mum weekly, she really did, but she knew that excuse wouldn't cut it. She opened her mouth to say something, but Jackie kept talking without pause. "And I'm not canceling it. Tom's a nice bloke, but he's busy with plumber contacts most of the time, so this was the only day he could make it. This afternoon, while you two were gallivanting in Hyde Park, I confirmed the date. I figured you two love birds would be long gone."

"'Love birds'?" Rose repeated, but Jackie had already turned her attention away from Rose and onto a large chicken breast that sat on the counter. She opened her mouth to tell her mum to be careful, but Rose couldn't find any reason to. She remembered Howard from when he used to fix their toilets on occasion, and although his face didn't come to mind, she knew he was a nice bloke and not particularly strong. If something should happen, Rose was confident her mum could take care of herself. She rubbed her temple and sighed in resignation. "Alright, mum, we'll leave you two be. But what do you suggest I do with the Doctor all night? He's not exactly one for being bored."

As if in answer, the two women jumped at the sound of something shattering in the adjacent room. A muffled curse and a "Sorry!" rang through the flat.

Jackie raised her eyebrow in the Doctor's direction. "Well, you're right about that." Rose giggled, and Jackie smiled in sympathy despite herself. Her daughter certainly had a lot on her hands at the moment. "There's a fair going on down the street. Why don't you two go and bring back a giant teddy bear or something."

Rose laughed out loud at the image of the Doctor holding a mega-sized stuffed bear aloft, a triumphant grin plastered on his face. She patted her mum's arm in gratitude, and then stepped into the living room to assess the damage.

She was mildly relieved that it was only the shattered remains of a picture frame's glass on the floor and not the tele. The Doctor glanced up from where he was kneeling by the mess and licked his lips nervously. Being the bumbling Time Lord that he was, he knew that he had exactly five seconds to explain why there was a pile of broken glass on the floor. He quickly stood up, the picture frame's photograph still clutched in his hand, and stuttered out, "Sorry, sorry! I was just looking at the, um, photographs, but then one of them fell and, ah…I'm sorry about the mess. Lovely picture of you by the way…"

"Don't worry about it. Mum needs new fames, anyway," Rose said, laughing at the Doctor's comical expression of apology. She loved it when he was nervous. Well, loved him no matter what mood he was in. Whether he was beaming and jumping around like a puppy or tugging at his ear in embarrassment, Rose couldn't deny that she had fallen in love with this time-traveling alien. This was not a new sensation, as she seemed to recall her feelings for a certain man in leather, but only recently had Rose noticed how the Doctor's little quirks made him look, well, sexy.

But her grin faded and a blush crept to her cheeks when she saw which photo the Doctor was holding. It was her as a little girl, barely ten, holding an empty mason jar above her head like a trophy. She was grateful the Doctor didn't know the back story behind this picture, and how at the time, she had thought she had finally caught herself a fairy.

The Doctor noticed her blush and assumed that it was due to his obvious prying. He swallowed heavily, kicking himself for making her feel embarrassed in any way. Maybe a compliment would help? "You look…cute," he tried.

'Cute'? Rose looked at the photograph again and tried to see what a 900-year-old Time Lord might consider to be 'cute'. But it was difficult for her to see past her younger self's dirty knees and frayed skirt.

"Thanks," Rose finally replied. She set the picture on the coffee table and cleared her throat. Time for the question. "So, Jackie and Tom are gonna want the night with each other…"

She waited and watched as the Doctor shoved his hands into his pockets. No explosions yet, Rose noted, that must be a good sign.

"But mum says there's a fair down the road." Rose shrugged, and was sorely tempted by the Doctor's pose to stick her hands into her own pockets. It seemed to work well enough for him. Ugh, since when had asking the Doctor to go somewhere with her been so difficult? Maybe it was all the domestics they might have to wade through if they went somewhere as normal as a fair. "Wanna check it out?"

The Doctor grinned from ear to ear, and Rose couldn't help but mirror his smile. If he was still upset by his absent TARDIS, he was doing a better job of hiding it. "Brilliant!" he said, "And we're leaving…?"

"Now, if you like. Preferably five minutes ago," Jackie answered as she appeared in the entrance to the kitchen. She made shooing motions towards the door. "Well, go on, you two. Go have fun and let me get the dinner on. And don't you even think of coming back till midnight, or later. There'll be no meal waiting for you here, so you'll have to think of something."

"Oh, I'm sure we can manage," the Doctor retorted, giving Rose a wink.

Rose rolled her eyes, but couldn't contain the blush that spread to her cheeks. She turned back to Jackie. "You're sure you'll be alright, mum? Need help with the chicken?"

"Listen to you. Used to be that you'd be out the door the second I gave you permission." Jackie shook her head and practically shoved them into the hallway. "Rose, I'll call you're mobile as soon as Tom leaves. Now go have fun!"

Just before the pair stepped out of the flat, Jackie yelled after them, "But if there's an alien invasion, don't count on me to save you!"

Rose laughed and tried to imagine that the Doctor's chuckle was genuine, not mixed with that flash of pain in his eyes. Then his face cleared and he was off like a race horse: "Love a good fair! Even met the man responsible for inventing them. Well, maybe he didn't so much invent them as put them together. Following someone else's instructions, I might add…"

Jackie rolled her eyes as the flat door clicked shut and the Doctor's ramble faded until there was nothing left but blissful silence. She turned back to the kitchen and rolled up her jacket sleeves. "Alright, chicken," she muttered, "let's see what you've got."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's nothing quite like a fair...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am officially stunned—no, blown away—by how this story has taken off. This is fantastic and brilliant and—gah, I love you all so much! Anyway, I'm doing my best to update this story fairly often, but two things get in the way: 1) the other Fanfic I'm working on, which has to be finished by August 23rd, and 2) real life college stuff, with essays and work and bleh. Also, school's starting up again, so I'll have even less time. The good news is that I do have an ending. All I have to do is get there!

As popular as Hyde Park had been, the Doctor thought he'd be prepared for the crowds, but he'd clearly forgotten how hectic London night life could be. It was all he and Rose could do to squeeze past the crowded lines, flash his physic paper, and enter the fair, Doctor style.

"Tickets! Prizes! Everything you could dream!"

"Hot tea over here, perfect for the ladies!"

"Get you're fish n' chips, mates, best fish n' chips this side of London!"

Faster than the Doctor's brilliant Time Lord mind could fathom, they were surrounded by vendors. The early-risers had been lucky enough to secure spots right in front, while those less fortunate called out to wanderers with a sort of desperation. Next to them a baby had begun to cry, and a young toddler was pouting because his ice cream had fallen onto the dirty cement. Not two steps away, the Doctor averted his eyes away from a couple engaged in a heated snog, only to spot a pickpocket working his magic on the lovers. It was a frenzied mess, with no sense of order or control.

And Rose was loving it.

"Oh, look at that!" she shouted, pulling the Doctor by the hand through the monstrous crowd and towards a large building. Over its door was a brightly lit sign that read, "This Crazy House of Mirrors".

The Doctor muttered, "Oh, no," but he allowed himself to be dragged inside anyway. If Rose was having a good time, then so was he. And he was never one to pass up the opportunity to hold Rose's hand.

They weaved their way through the maze of mirrors, chuckling at their distorted appearances. There were very few other people in the House, so Rose could laugh as loudly as she wanted to when a mirror made the Doctor's waist expand. "Look at the meat on your bones!" Rose snorted, "Won't Jackie be proud!" But the Doctor was able to return the favor when they came upon a mirror that made Rose's face turn upside down.

As soon as they left "This Crazy House of Mirrors", the Doctor nudged his companion towards the Ferris Wheel, which towered over the rest of the fair. The blinking lights and carnival-style music emitting from giant speakers drew the Doctor's curiosity, but suddenly Rose began to pull away from his grip. "Not that one," he heard her squeak behind him.

The Doctor turned and was surprised to see that Rose's eyes were as wide as saucers. "But it's a slow one. It's not a roller coaster—" Then it clicked. "Wait, don't tell me…you're afraid of heights!"

"Am not!" Rose protested, but her iron grip told the Doctor a different story. "I'm just…not too fond of Ferris Wheels, that's all."

"Rose Tyler," the Doctor said. He stepped towards his companion until they were within whispering distance. "You've faced Daleks, Cybermen, mind-controlled Oods, Slitheen, cat nuns, the Devil himself, all without batting an eyelash." He glanced towards the Ferris Wheel, which had gone from bright blue to neon green. "And you're telling me you're scared to go on a giant wheel that slowly spins around in a clockwise fashion?"

Rose bit her lip and lowered her head, blushing slightly as she recalled memories from long ago. "I'm fine with the whole wheel thing, it's just…something happened and now, every time I see Ferris Wheels, I think of it."

"Ah. Fear of a memory." The Doctor nodded and looked down at their clasped hands. He suddenly found himself wondering how much bigger his hands were compared to Roses'. What would they taste like if he licked them, right here, right now—No, no, the Doctor mentally shook himself and pushed away those kinds of curiosities, lest they get him into trouble. Instead he said, "But memories can be replaced with better ones."

"Not this memory." Rose was upset, and if she was upset, than so was the Doctor. "Can't we just, I don't know…ride the merry-go-round or something?"

"Yeah, we could. Or," At this, Rose looked up and caught the Doctor's eye long enough for him to wink at her. "You could swear on the potassium content of bananas that after we've ridden the merry-go-round, and eaten, and maybe played a few games, you would ride the Ferris Wheel with me."

"But Doctor—"

He ignored her and waggled his eyebrows, an expression that had the potential to win her heart and soul any day. "Swear it!"

Rose blew out a puff of air in exasperation, and the Doctor tried not to look like he was inhaling her breath like much-needed oxygen. "Fine. I swear—"

"By the potassium content of bananas…"

She giggled. "'By the potassium content of bananas' that I will ride the Ferris Wheel with you. But only after we've done everything else this fair has to offer!"

"You're wish is my command," the Doctor said, grinning like the star-struck fool he was. He readjusted his hold on Rose's hand, and together they walked toward the glowing merry go-round in the distance.

Rose tried to drag out the minutes (to hold on to this night forever or postpone a ride in the Ferris Wheel, she wasn't sure which), but eventually the Doctor had to remind her that her time on the carousal was up.

"Oh, do we have to go?" she asked innocently. "You're not having fun on…" She checked the name printed above the Doctor's steed. "Dynamite?"

The Doctor frowned and looked down at the plastic horse he was currently straddling. It was painted jet black and had stars painted on its flanks, and made in such a way that the horse seemed to be leaping for outer space with each turn of the merry-go-round. But the image of the Oncoming Storm riding a plastic horse named Dynamite sent Rose into a fit of giggles.

"What?" The Doctor frowned, not realizing that his face only made Rose laugh harder. Didn't he have any idea how adorable he looked? Rose bit her lip and attempted to school her features. Her horse wasn't much better: completely white except for the flanks, which were decorated with little plastic roses. And, of course, the horse's name happened to be Rose. "What's wrong with his name?" he asked.

"Nothing." Human Rose gave him the sweetest smile she could. "I like the name Dynamite. It…suits you."

The Doctor leaned forward and waggled his eyebrows. "Oh, it does, does it?" he said, waggling his eyebrows.

Rose froze and couldn't help a blush rising up her cheeks. If he was implying what she thought he was implying…

But the Doctor either had no idea that his words contained a double meaning, or he was very good at changing topics. "And a good name for me, too. One zap from my sonic screwdriver and a whole computer system explodes. Well, on second thought, it's best not to do that. Gets a bit messy, what with strewn parts everywhere, and I'd hate to break their lovely merry-go-round."

"Not that you'd pay for it," Rose muttered as she stepped off the carousal and back into the carnival crowds.

"I heard that!" He jumped in front of her and stood there, cutting Rose off from escape. "You, Rose Tyler, are rude."

"Learned it from the best."

"Oi!" The Doctor was somehow able to retain a straight face as he attempted to salvage his dignity. Rose, on the other hand, had to bite her lip to stifle a laugh. "Once again, rude. Now you have to apologize."

Rose raised her own eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. "No, I don't think I do. In fact, it looks like you," She poked the Doctor's chest, pushing the Time Lord back on his heels and then forwards again like a pendulum, "have to apologize to me."

"What?"

"You cut my ride short."

"Did not." The Doctor sniffed his nose indignantly and mirrored Rose's crossed arms stance. "And even if I did, it was because I was thinking of all the kids waiting in line."

Rose laughed aloud and the Doctor finally couldn't help it. Seeing Rose Tyler smile made him giddy all over, and that made a grin spill over his face as well. In between giggles, she said, "I'm still not apologizing."

"Oh, yes, you are!" Before Rose could defend herself the Doctor's hands came towards her and began tickling her sides.

"Stop it! Stop—hey, cut it out!" Rose shouted, laughing with the Doctor as she tried to shove his hands away. But her efforts were in vain. She was quickly realizing that Time Lords were tickle masters. "Alright, alright!" She was finally able to grip the Doctor's arms. They stood like that for a moment, a little closer than arm's length apart and breathing heavily. Rose was only mildly aware of the surrounding fairgoers, who walked around them and occasionally glanced in their direction. She thought she caught an elderly man winking at her, but he was gone before she could be sure. Sighing, Rose tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "You win. I'm sorry I called you rude." But as the Doctor's mouth turned upwards into a triumphant smirk, she couldn't resist having the last word. "Rude and not ginger."

The Time Lord's eyes widened and he opened and closed his mouth without success, while the pink and yellow human in front of him burst out laughing. Finally Rose took a deep breath and calmed herself. "Oh, I'm starved."

The Doctor twisted his arms around so he was holding her wrists instead. "Well, would you look at that? So am I. What'll it be?"

"You pick," Rose replied, shrugging her shoulders. But both of them had the same idea in mind.

Minutes later the Doctor and Rose were sitting side by side on a stone ledge, eating fish and chips out of paper bags with their fingers. They sat in a companionable silence, the only sound being the crunch of fried food and the occasionally sucking noise as the Doctor licked his fingers cleaned. Rose had long since become accustomed to this habit, a quirk that her mum detested in every possible way. But then again, Jackie had no idea what the Doctor did to Rose. Something about how he licked and sucked each digit, never missing a mark…

"It's rude to stare." Rose realized she had stopped eating and had been openly staring at the Doctor (or, more specifically, the Doctor's mouth) as he had been licking the grease off his index finger. Now embarrassed, she muttered something under her breath and went back to her food with increased vigor. She could feel the Doctor's eyes on her, though, and Rose's ears suddenly felt like they were on fire.

The Doctor crumpled his used paper and abruptly stood. "No time for sitting around like we're watching telly." She glanced up at him and cringed at how excited he suddenly looked. Knowing the last of the Time Lords, that could mean nothing good. "I believe there's a certain Ferris Wheel that's calling your name."

"Well, tell it to shut its gob," Rose muttered, but she finished the last of her chips and tossed them into a rubbish bin without any further protest. Now was as good a time as any to face the giant wheel of memories.

Hand in hand, they began to walk to the Ferris Wheel. The Doctor could tell that something was bothering Rose. What was it about a giant metal wheel that filled his companion with so much dread? He could feel Rose's hands tense up with each step.

"See that? You humans call it cotton candy, but the Luvinda species refer to it as sugar clouds." The Doctor pointed at a nearby stand selling the pink whipped sugar, but he made sure to keep half an eye on Rose, just to make sure she was paying attention. "The Luvindas are the best makers of candy and sweets this side of the universe. Except for chocolate, though, never go there for chocolate. You go to planet Chu for that. I'd offer to take you to see the candy factories on the Luvindas' home planet, but they're not too fond of humans. No, they say you humans copied their idea for sugar clouds, thereby stealing half the market in the process. Personally, I think they're just jealous."

"Seriously? What could they be jealous of?" Rose asked. She was grateful for the Doctor's attempts at taking her mind off whatever terrible memories she might have been thinking of. "And we're hardly off the earth at this point. Barely even made actual contact with aliens."

"True, but think about it. Sugar clouds? Come on, the name you humans gave the stuff is far superior."

The Doctor continued to ramble on about the differences between how each species created their version of cotton candy, but Rose was only listening with half an ear. Though it was fun to nibble the edges of such a delicate treat, she didn't care for the stuff as much as, say, her mum did. She opened her mouth to tell the Doctor about her mum's cotton candy addiction, but then closed it again immediately. They had reached the base of the Ferris Wheel, and unfortunately, the line wasn't very long. There would be no swaying the Doctor now.

The Time Lord craned his neck to look at the top of the ride, before turning his head to Rose and saying, "Ready?"

Rose nodded, and answered the Doctor's squeeze on her hand with one of her own. They stepped into the line.

Before Rose could really think about what she was getting herself into, they were standing in front of one of the Ferris Wheel seats. It was little more than a red, open-air metal bench with one yellow safety bar to hold the riders in place. But the Doctor didn't hesitate. He swept past the ride operator's impatient hand, sat on the far side, and jerked his head in Rose's direction. "Come on."

Rose didn't reply and settled herself down in the seat as quickly as possible, trying not to visually flinch when the operator pushed the yellow bar down with a slam. Then, with the push of a button, they were off.

It was slow going, but Rose had to admit, the view was incredible. At first, she was happy with just being able to see the whole fair, but then the Ferris Wheel brought them higher and higher. They cleared the top, and suddenly Rose could just barely see downtown London in the distance. If she really squinted, she could make out the London Eye.

"Doctor, 's beautiful!" His reply was a happy hum.

Now they were cycling backwards, and it seemed to Rose that they were descending at a much faster pace than they had been ascending. Rose bit back a sad sigh. It was so nice, being with the Doctor up here. Hard to get him to sit anywhere for more than five minutes, so this was really a treat…

As if answering some kind of universal irony, the Ferris Wheel waited until they were half-way to the ground before breaking down.

The ride jerked, and Rose's hand shot out to grab the Doctor's. She heard a few shouts of surprise here and there, but then the wheel stopped completely, and the shouts turned into groans. Cheap rides with almost constant break down cycles was one of the many problems of a local city fair. Rose joined the other riders in glancing downwards and seeing that the ride operator was furiously tapping away at the controls. Watching him kick the machine a couple times made her wonder if today was one of those long, hard days for him.

"Well, this is…unfortunate." Rose made to give the Doctor a glare and a talking to about just how "unfortunate" this all was, but she was surprised by the look he was giving her. It was his crafty face, with eyebrows raised and mouth turned into a small smirk. It was his you've-got-an-embarrassing-secret-and-I'm-not-leaving-until-I-learn-what-it-is face.

Rose tried to ignore it. "But you've got your sonic screwdriver. Just give the Ferris Wheel a zap and we'll be on our way."

The Time Lord had the nerve to casually scratch under his chin before answering. "Well, I could, yeah…but then again…" His brown eyes locked onto her hazel ones. "You haven't explained why you're afraid of Ferris Wheels."

"Is that what this is about?" Rose retorted. When the Doctor gave nothing but an encouraging nod, she bit her lip. "Promise you won't laugh?"

"Promise."

She groaned and ended up putting her head in her hands. From the safety of her palms, she mumbled, "Thiswasmyfirstkiss."

"Hmm? Sorry?" The Doctor leaned forward. "Didn't quite catch that."

"I had my first kiss on a Ferris Wheel, alright?" Rose said, only able to look at the Doctor for a few seconds before embarrassment kicked in. "It was some kid named Kyle. We were in kids and his friends dared him to kiss me on the top of the Ferris Wheel. He did, and it was disgusting."

"Disgusting?"

Oh, she so did not want to be discussing proper kissing techniques with a sexy Time Lord sitting right next to her. "Again, we were young and neither of us had kissed anyone before. He wasn't the only one, though," Rose went on, cutting off the Doctor's next words, "I was sixteen and there was this…guy, named Jimmy Stone. We met in some fair out by Greenwich. He seemed like a good bloke, 'cause he was in a band and all. Thought he was daft, asking me if he could take me for a spin around the Ferris Wheel."

She peeked at the Doctor to see how he was taking it. No reaction so far, except for a strange look in his eyes. Rose would have called it jealousy if she knew what that looked like on a Time Lord. "Anyway, we kissed, and we started hanging out. Mum wasn't too fond of him, though. Plenty of fights about that. And then he was asking me to come with him and the band and I was packing my bags, simple as that."

Rose looked down at her hands. The Doctor still clasped her right hand, but she felt distant from him. What would he think of her after this? Would he see her actions as anything other than unjustifiable? "But it didn't end well. Jimmy would drink, and get angry, and…set his rage out on me."

She felt the Doctor's hand clench tighter on hers.

"When he started flirting with other girls, I decided that that was the end of me and Jimmy Stone. But he…he didn't let me go so easily. Had to outrun him. Easier said than done, of course, but I must have passed some witnesses or somethin', cause somehow I made it back to mum."

Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "So that's it. That's why I don't like Ferris Wheels. They're pretty nice, on their own. It's just all the bad that comes with it."

There was only silence from the Doctor. Rose didn't know if that was good or bad, but she was too afraid to check. Then the Doctor spoke.

"Rose," he said, "I…I'm sorry I forced you into this. If I'd known…"

"You couldn't have. Don't worry 'bout it." She glanced up and met the Doctor eyes, so deep and bottomless, but filled to the brim with something she couldn't describe.

Indeed, even the Doctor couldn't bring himself to describe it, much less label it for what it was. He looked at Rose Tyler and found yet another layer to her that made her so special, so fantastic, and so utterly brilliant that it took his breath away. One image of her was swinging to him on a rope somewhere beneath London, filled with a selfless bravery he could never match. Another had dirt-stained knees and a pink dress, holding up an empty jar with a smile that could light up a black hole. And now he had a third image: Rose Tyler, a human who had experienced suffering, but refused to give in to hopelessness. Not when there was a way to rise out of such despair. She was more than he deserved, so much more. How could the Doctor even begin to compare himself to this pink and yellow human?

He felt something. Something was touching the corners of his mind, tingling and tickling him in an odd but pleasant sensation. Was this what…that felt like? Was it really…that? What a coward he was. Even in his mind he couldn't bring himself to say the words that always lived in his hearts. Was he going to kiss her now? Maybe a hug would do? What was that feeling…if he could just get closer to it…

"Doctor?" Rose asked, staring hard into the Time Lord's eyes. His gaze seemed to pierce through her, like he was concentrating deeply on something beyond her knowledge. Was he in a trance or something? Once again her mind wandered and she imagined herself leaning forward ever so slightly and snapping the Doctor out of his reverie with a kiss. Well, now that she thought about it, it would probably be more like a hearty snog.

But before she could act on her wild impulses, the Doctor's head snapped up. "Rose!" he said excitedly, "The TARDIS! It's landed! I know where it is!"

Rose was shocked, but then thrilled, as the words sank in. "That's great, Doctor!"

"It's more than great, it's brilliant! Fantastic!" He enveloped her in an enormous hug, which Rose returned with enthusiasm. It wasn't a kiss, but it was something.

She leaned back and grinned. "So where is it, then?"

The Doctor glanced down. "Well, uh…about that…"

"Don't tell me it's on the moon or something."

"No, no, it's on Earth. Only…" His hand crept up to scratch the back of his neck. "You might not like where."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, this turned out to be a lot longer than I was anticipating. Enjoy it! Sorry, but it might be the last one you're getting until August 23rd.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally back to working on this story full-time. Hope you all are enjoying! Time to learn where the TARDIS has ended up… Oh, and just as a general warning, the ending of this chapter gets a little bit steamy. All thanks to UST!

"New Delhi?" Jackie said in disbelief, her hands finding her hips. "Of all the ruddy places for that box to turn up…" Rose, who was now sitting on the sofa, had nothing to contradict the Time Lord's words.

The Doctor anxiously scratched the back of his neck for the fourth time that evening. "She did her best, Jackie," he grumbled. "Could have been worse you know. Imagine if the TARDIS had ended up on Venus."

But Jackie did not appreciate his sense of humor and tugged her pink robe tighter around herself. Tom had gone home only minutes before, after he'd answered the door to find his date's daughter and an anxious stranger on the threshold. Looking back on it, Jackie was glad Rose and the Doctor had turned up when they did. Dinner hadn't been as fun as she had planned it to be, and Jackie had found herself craving her Rose's company more and more. And now the alien in front of her was planning on taking her daughter away again.

Rose, for her part, didn't know what to feel. She had been the one to suggest to the Doctor that maybe the reappearance of the TARDIS was worth interrupting her mum's evening, but now she doubted her judgment. Half of Rose was ready to hop on a plane to India at a moment's notice. But the other half of her, the guilty half, was worried about how much pressure this now put on her mum. Dropping in unexpectedly was one thing, but this? Flights from Heathrow to India weren't exactly cheap.

Rose fidgeted on the sofa cushion and anxiously rubbed the ear of a stuffed horse sitting in her lap. The Doctor had refused to leave the fair until he'd managed to win it for her, a feat accomplished by an expert throw at a stack of bottles. Now, the brown-furred animal was something of a comfort to her.

Jackie opened her mouth to speak, but her daughter cut her off. "Look, mum, we're really sorry about this. If the Doctor could somehow summon the TARDIS he would." Rose glanced at the Doctor, who was nodding his head vigorously despite the faraway look in his eyes. "All we need is a lift."

"To New Delhi," her mum retorted. "'S not a cheap flight. And there's no way I'm letting you two cross half a continent on foot."

"We'll pay for it," Rose said, but it was a bold statement and she knew it.

"With what? Last I heard this alien here didn't have a pence to his name."

The Doctor huffed indignantly, but, much to Rose's dismay, made no move to correct Jackie's assumption. It seemed that some things never changed between regenerations. "We'll figure something out," Rose said. The Doctor shot her a warning look, but she silently shook her head. It was looking like this would be a longer stay then they'd planned, but right now they needed a plan to reach the TARDIS. And Rose didn't have much in the way of ideas.

Jackie eyed the duo for a few more uncomfortable moments, before she shook her head in exasperation and headed for the kitchen. There were still dirty dishes to take care of. After a brief hesitation, Rose set aside her stuffed horse and silently joined her mum. She knew that she was only putting off the Doctor and their inevitable discussion, but Rose needed time to gather her thoughts if she was to help him figure out a solution to their problem.

The Doctor was beginning to seriously consider leaving for India on his own by the time Rose stepped out of the kitchen. He made to jump up from his position and tell Rose his plan, but something in her movements stilled him. Maybe it was the way she slumped down next to him on the sofa, or the speed at which she retrieved the stuffed toy he had won for her. Whatever the reason, the Doctor found himself biting his tongue and letting Rose speak first. Technically speaking, he owed it to the Tyler household. It did not escape his notice that he'd be spending the night on the street if not for Jackie's hospitality.

Rose took a deep breath and decided to begin the conversation. "Do you really not have any money?"

The Doctor didn't answer at first, distracted as he was by Rose's fingers as they rubbed the horse's fuzzy ear. He had to fight the urge to accost her hand and have her fingers stroking him instead. The strictly-professional Time Lord cleared his throat and averted his gaze. "Yeah," he said finally. "Not a pound to my name. Well, I probably have a few credit bars tucked away in these pockets, but I don't think this planet's ready for the universal currency of the 34th century. Not yet, anyway."

Rose breathed out and rested her head against the back of the sofa. "So what do we do?"

"I could always sonic an ATM."

She glanced at the Doctor and watched as he casually twirled the sonic screwdriver in his fingers. Such nimble hands…Rose didn't think she could count the number of fantasies she'd had concerning those fingers. But she cleared her wandering mind with a quick shake of her head and reminded herself to focus on the task at hand. Right, the Doctor had proposed something ludicrous. "Seriously?"

"Why not?" The Doctor pointed out. "It's fast. It's easy. We wouldn't have to inconvenience Jackie by asking her for money or room in her flat while we work for it."

"But isn't that…"

"What?"

Rose bit her lip and glanced towards the kitchen. She could just see her mum's head bent over the sink. "…Stealing?"

The Doctor paused in his twirling to scratch the side of his face. "Well, yeah, it could be considered that. I prefer to call it borrowing for a higher cause. Besides." He turned his head to face Rose and affixed her with his dark brown eyes. "Didn't stop us at Satellite 5."

"That was different," she retorted, gently averting her eyes. A heated discussion was not the time to lose herself in a completely different kind of heat.

"Why? Because it was in the future and therefore hasn't happened yet?"

"We didn't use that money."

"No, that's right, your boyfriend did. And he nearly killed us."

"He wasn't my—" Rose cut herself off with a frustrated hiss. This Doctor was just as good at riling people up as his last regeneration. Adam had been a selfish git and was another bullet point in the long list of mistakes Rose had made in her life, and she didn't feel like she had the energy to argue with the Doctor about her past love affairs.

But he had made valid points. Rose would never take money from her mum when she had no way of paying her back. An ATM would be infinitely faster and easier, and, not to mention, more reliable, then waiting for the lottery or free handouts. And if Rose knew the Doctor, then she knew that he could never stand waiting around for them to raise the money through work wages when his beloved TARDIS was a mere several thousand kilometers away.

"Fine," Rose replied. "We'll do it your way." The Time Lord hummed in satisfaction and made to stand, but Rose stopped him with her next word. "Tomorrow."

The Doctor sat back down with a protest on his lips, but Jackie had overheard her daughter and beat him to it. "She's right," Rose's mum said, walking into the living room. "I'm not gonna ask what she means by 'your way', because if I know him well enough I don't think I want to know what it is. But I'm knackered, and you two aren't leaving for New Delhi without saying good-bye, so whatever it is can wait until tomorrow."

Tomorrow? Judging by the Doctor's expression, Rose didn't know if he could make it. "Mum—"

"Don't you 'mum' me. I know what my daughter looks like when she's tired." Jackie pointed at the Doctor with a stern, but sympathetic, finger. "You, too, alien. When was the last time you had a good kip?"

To Rose's surprise, instead of giving Jackie a sarcastic reply, the Doctor looked down at the brown stuffed animal and mumbled, "Too long."

Then he locked eyes with her, and Rose was utterly speechless. Something in his voice spoke of an inner vulnerability she had never heard nor seen before. Not on his current face, anyway. She blamed her own compassion for the heat pooling in her belly. But for all her crazed thoughts she could not seem to be able to look away from his deep, almost passionate, gaze.

Jackie glanced from her daughter to the man who was actually an alien, and managed to hide her triumphant smirk. The fair, the stuffed horse, the wordless conversation taking place on her sofa…how was it that everyone else could see it but them? "Well, I'm beat. 'Night, you two," she said. Then, when she saw that no reply was forthcoming, she left for her room without another word.

It took moment for Rose's mind to register her mum's words, so ensnared was she by her and the Doctor's close proximity. Ever so casually, her eyes flicked down to his lips and back up again. Was this the moment? Who would move first?

But then her mum's words clicked with the Doctor, and he spoke. "Your mum's right," he said. His words were soft but came out like a throaty growl. A sexy throaty growl.

Rose heard his words as if they had come through a funnel. The only thing she could think to say was, "Yeah…"

"Rose," the Time Lord said, his eyebrow raising until it nearly reached his hairline. "You're in my bed."

Under different circumstances, his words would have prompted Rose to indulge in one of her many fantasies involving her pouncing on him and snoging him senseless. But now his statement was like a bucket of ice cold water. Rose shook her head. "Oh, yeah. Sorry." She quickly stood up from the sofa, horse in hand, and walked out of the room. "G'night, Doctor," she called over her shoulder, hoping against hope that the Time Lord hadn't seen her blush.

The Doctor stared after Rose's retreating form and frowned, wondering if he had done something wrong. But he finally shrugged and settled down on his temporary sleeping spot. Tomorrow, he thought. Tomorrow we find the TARDIS.

In the back of his mind, the Doctor could feel a whisper of his ship's usual hum. Though it was small, he took comfort in its presence, and allowed his body to slip into sleep.

Rose, however, couldn't seem to shake her restlessness. Every position had something wrong with it, and whenever she managed to finally drift away an itch would creep along her arm or leg and she'd be wide awake all over again. Her wandering mind was no help, either. Had the Doctor been planning on kissing her? Had his words been a deflection tactic, or was he really so inept at social cues? His eyes had certainly seemed to speak a different message, but then again, she's read him wrong before. If that situation came up again, on the TARDIS, say, or anywhere else that wasn't her mum's sofa, would he take the first step? Or would he leave it up her? The latter seemed almost too cowardly an option for him, but Rose wouldn't put the thick Time Lord past it.

More than all of this, Rose wondered if that moment on the couch would change her current relationship with the Doctor. Knowing him, she'd never find out. He rarely opened up to her on such a deep and complex level. But his voice had sounded so vulnerable when he'd answered her mum…Oh, that bloody alien! He was going to be the death of her.

With a groan, Rose had to admit that her death-by-unresolved-sexual-tension might be coming sooner than expected. Tomorrow they would be buying tickets for a plane flight to New Delhi, India, a flight that was probably going to take at least seven or eight hours. A long time to be sitting next to a hard-to-read alien eager to return to his time ship. Rose desperately hoped that the Doctor would figure out what kind of relationship he wanted with her by tomorrow, for both their sakes.


	5. Chapter 5

Rose awoke to find her room bathed in sunlight. But that wasn't right…why was she in her mum's flat and not on the TARDIS? Then she glanced at the brown stuffed horse beside her on the bed, and suddenly all of the events from the day before came back to her. How long did I sleep in? Rose wondered as she absently threaded her fingers through her sleep-mangled hair. She had assumed the Doctor would have her awake by dawn so they could get on a plane to India as soon as possible.

But when she walked bleary-eyed into the living room, she found it startlingly empty. There was no TARDIS taking up half the room today. Instead Rose was greeted with a sofa that looked unused, a clear dining table, and a tele that was playing news reels. Through the walls she could hear water running, a clear sign that her mum was still in the flat. Rose sighed and silently wished she was back on the TARDIS. The ship always seemed to provide her sole female passenger with the best bathing facilities in the universe, or so the Doctor had claimed.

She walked out of the kitchen, fresh cuppa in hand, the same time Jackie came out of the loo. "Mornin', sweetheart," her mum said, tying her fluffy pink robe around her waist. She took one look around the empty flat and rolled her eyes. "Still gone, is he?"

"Looks like it." Rose sipped her hot tea carefully. "You know where he went?"

"No, but I hope he's out buying the plane tickets," she replied. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss that blue box. 'S like it's part of the flat sometimes." Rose smiled at her mum's words. Surprising as they were coming out of Jackie's mouth, the sentient ship with a retro exterior had become woven into the daily life of the small Tyler household. "And if that Doctor stays here for much longer I'll be clean out of both bananas and jam. Walked into the kitchen and you know what I find? An alien man with his fingers in my jar of blackberry jam."

Rose burst into laughter along with her mum, as she could easily picture the lanky Time Lord getting caught red-handed by Jackie Tyler. The mother-daughter pair took their conversation to the sofa, and bantered back and forth about the Doctor's antics.

Until Jackie grew more serious and asked, "Is he always like that, though? Eating certain foods like he's got some kind of fetish?"

Rose chuckled, but as she considered her mum's question, her smile lessened. "Well, yeah, he always eats a lot. Claims Time Lords metabolize food faster than humans," she answered. "But he only goes for the jam jars when he's upset or nervous about something." Rose set her now-empty mug on the lounge table. "Why do you ask?"

Her mum bit her lip and fiddled with her robe before replying. "Cause I heard him. Last night. I was just about to fall asleep when I heard some kind of yell or scream coming from the living room. I went to see if everything was alright, and there was the Doctor, sittin' on the edge of the sofa with his head in his hands. Wouldn't answer me, just mumbled that he was fine and walked out the front door."

"Oh." It was the only thing Rose could think to say. She had occasionally seen or heard evidence of the Doctor's nightmares during his previous regeneration. A random shout in the middle of the night, or occasionally seeing his leather-clad shadow passing by her door as he would walk the halls of the TARDIS. It seemed his new body was no less afflicted.

"Is there something going on between you two?" Jackie continued. Rose opened her mouth to deny it, an answer that had become second nature to her, despite her wishes for it to be different, but her mum cut her off. "I'm not prying. I'm just curious, that's all. 'Cause I thought I heard him say something, just before I walked in. It sounded like—"

At that moment the door swung open and the two women jumped. The Doctor's voice rang through the flat without any sort of greeting. "Those travel agents! You should have warned me about them, Jackie. When I say 'no baggage' I mean 'no—" He stilled when he walked into the living room and saw that both Tylers were sitting on the couch, staring at him. But what startled him the most was one Tyler in particular.

"Rose!" The Doctor said. His lifted his arm so he could scratch his ear, but dropped it when he seemed to remember that his hand was already occupied by a small bundle of papers.

It was then that Rose realized that what was in the Doctor's hand weren't just any stack of papers. Across the top of each one was the British Airlines logo. It seemed her mum had been right in assuming that he was eager to get back to the TARDIS.

But the Doctor's thoughts were running on a completely different strand. There were times where, in brief moments of mental vulnerability, his mind would become overwhelmed by certain things, like a sunset that reminded him of Gallifrey, or the birth of a new star. But these days it was Rose that occupied his thoughts and senses, almost as if this body had been made for her during the regeneration process. Her smile made both his hearts pound, her scent intoxicated him, and his ears yearned for the sound of her laugh. She was beautiful in every sense of the word, that small human word that could describe anything in the world and yet could never come close to being enough. His previous regeneration had known of these feelings, too, even if that big-eared form had been too cowardly to admit it, even to himself. And now Rose Tyler, no make-up and with ruffled hair and jimjams, looked as stunning as she had on that Victorian Christmas all those years ago.

And just like that day, the Doctor was faced with two distinct urges. One was to plant a kiss right on her pink lips before she could react, and the other to run. He was finally knocked out of his brief state of shock when he realized that the women's faces were creased with worry. "What?" he said, a frown beginning to form.

Like two beings with the same mind, the Tyler women shrugged and did not answer him. Instead, Rose nodded at the slips of paper the Doctor's hand and asked, "So what's that, then?"

And just like that, the Doctor reverted to his usual self with the flip of a switch. "Plane tickets!" He proclaimed, holding up said tickets with a triumphant grin. "One-way flight for two to the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. How 'bout it, Rose Tyler?" He waggled his eyebrows. "Fancy a trip to India?"

Rose smiled, her tongue poking out between her teeth in the most distracting way. "Wouldn't miss it for the world!" And then, because she couldn't help herself, Rose squealed and leaped up to hug the tall Time Lord. The Doctor, laughing as he was, held her tight as well. They were on their way to the TARDIS at last! If there had been more room in the small flat he probably would have spun her in mid-air.

Jackie, for her part, pushed her worry for the Time Lord's well-being aside and smiled at the scene in front of her. If someone had told her past self that her daughter was destined to fall for an alien, she'd never have believed them. But something had shifted between the Doctor and Rose, some subtle tweak that made their relationship so much more personal than that between travel companions. That light that came into his eyes when she entered a room. The easy smiles that sprouted from her lips whenever he started to ramble. They fed off each other's enthusiasm for living, and this in turn became something that could only be described as love. To Jackie, and anyone who met them, it was a natural assumption. And in that blue box, taking the next step in their relationship was only a matter of time.

Part of Jackie envied her daughter for this chance, but she had long ago come to terms with the sobering fact that she was past her prime. Now it was her daughter's time for love and happiness, before any untimely tragedies should befall them.

Finally, Rose untangled herself from the Doctor and stepped back so she could examine their tickets. "Right. When's our flight, then?" Our flight…how normal and boring that sounded! Since when did surreal describe travel that wasn't in a time-and-space ship?

His previous regeneration would have balked at the human implications of such domestic statement, but now the Doctor found that he loved the way those words sounded coming from Rose Tyler. With her, going anywhere was an adventure. "Plane leaves at five in the afternoon. Would have gotten an earlier flight but this was the only one with two seats—available." He decided not to mention that plenty of earlier flights had empty seats, but this plane was the only one with two open seats next to each other. Besides, according to the Doctor, a plane trip without a window seat was a wasted flight.

"No, no, five's great," Rose replied. "Good thing we don't have baggage or it'd be loads more expensive."

"Nothing to a sonic screwdriver," he said, twirling the device in his fingers.

Rose handed her mum the tickets so she could look at them. Soon, Jackie was shaking her head and chuckling. "Prices like these, I'll never reach France." She looked up at the Doctor. "I don't know how you did it, but thank you, Doctor. Thank you." The look that passed that passed between her and the Time Lord was not one of reproach or sarcasm, but of gratitude. The kind of gratitude that a parent shared with another. But Jackie, of course, had no idea of the Doctor's past, and was slightly confused when he mirrored the look in her eye.

Her daughter, however, now felt a little more than guilty. Could they take her mum along somehow? But Jackie would never agree to return on the TARDIS, and Rose knew from years of experience that her mum was too proud to agree to use the Doctor's money, no matter how ill-gotten it was. "Mum…"

"Don't worry 'bout me, sweetheart. You two have fun." She stood and returned the tickets, but not before she said with a hard look, "Just make sure you give me a ring as soon as you reach India, and your blue box."

The Doctor grinned at the mention of his ship. The TARDIS! They were on their way! "We will."

They paused there for a moment, the two humans and the single alien letting the companionable silence stretch for as long as was comfortable. But Jackie took one look at the clock on the wall and quickly set about cleaning up her and her daughter's mugs. "If your plane leaves at five then we've got to be gettin' there around three, and it's already ten! Sorry, Doctor, but Rose and I have some freshin' up to do."

"Fine, fine!" The Doctor nodded and quickly pocketed the tickets. As soon as Jackie was out of ear-shot, he leaned closer to Rose and muttered, "Looks like it'll take her a while." She snorted, and he silently added, You, however, don't need to freshen up at all.

"Five hours until go time, though," Rose said, and the restless Time Lord shivered inwardly. Like he needed to be reminded of the sobering fact that he would have to suffer through the slow passage of time like a normal person, even if it was only for a short while. "What d'you want to do?"

At that moment, her mum stepped back out of the kitchen and interrupted their discussion with her own ideas. "Sorry, Doctor, but whenever my daughter comes home we always go out for dinner. And since you insist on running off at the first opportunity then it only seems fair that I take her out to lunch. You're invited, of course."

The Doctor opened his mouth, most likely to make some excuse about upgrades he wanted to give the Tyler household's tele, but Rose cut him off. "She's got a point, you know."

He hesitated, and she pressed her advantage. "Please, Doctor? It's nothin' fancy, just a quick bite at a chippy or something. And you won't have to face mum's cooking."

A part of him, a small part, was still questioning the idea of a meal, any meal, with Jackie Tyler. But that side was slowly waning with each second Rose kept those big, hazel, puppy-dog eyes on her face, until the Doctor realized that his doubt had dissipated completely. He never could deny her anything. With a last glance, he sighed and replied, "Oh, alright. I'll come."

Rose hummed through her tongue-touched smile and hugged his right arm, a feeling that the Doctor was finding himself more and more receptive to. The limb felt cold and vacant when she extracted herself and fled to her room to change. Her mum followed after, taking time to give the Time Lord her best "don't mess with my daughter" on the way by.

The Doctor slid his hands down his face and attempted to clear his mind, though he was finding it more difficult than usual. Rose's scent still lingered all over his entire coat, and he had to admit that his focus had first gone haywire when he had walked into the flat. Or maybe, if he was being honest with himself, it had all began with the word "run".

But now was not the time to indulge in wayward thoughts and improbable fantasies. With a heavy sigh the Doctor sat himself down on the couch he'd barely used and concentrated his telepathy on his connection to the TARDIS, faint as it was. He could feel her hum in response, and soon, the Time Lord was lost in his and his ship's shared thoughts of Time and Space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> News flash: this story is turning out to be way longer than I originally anticipated. Five chapters? As if! They haven't even gotten on the plane yet. So yes, there are lots of chapters coming. My goal is to have this whole thing finished by Thanksgiving Break, but we'll see how that goes. Keep writing, all!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huzzah! The next chapter! (With my schedule right now, this is a cause for celebration.) By the way, for those who are wondering, a certain scene is going to happen in this chapter. Let's just say that if there's one scene I would love to see, more than anything, it's the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler being parents.

Despite his initial complaints, the Doctor was actually very polite towards Jackie during their lunch of fish and chips. He even instigated a conversation or two without Rose's prompting. Her mum told them the latest gossip back home, and in return, the duo enthused about their latest adventures. The Doctor was a brilliant storyteller, complete with hand gestures, so Rose was just fine with settling back into the red booth and nibbling her vinegar-drenched food in silence. Oh, occasionally she would fill in some of the more personal or emotional bits of a story, but other than that she was free to listen and enjoy.

Rose was secretly glad for the distraction, anyway. It almost made her forget about their waiter, who was in the middle of setting the record for the best table service this side of London.

"Would you be needing anythin' else, sir?" The waiter was at their table again, her eyes glued to the Doctor. To Rose it looked like she had just styled her light-brown hair and applied a new layer of make-up. Bloody scrubber, Rose seethed. You'd think mum and I were in a different universe.

The Time Lord, ignorant of his companion's thoughts, only smiled. "No, thank you. Just the check, please," he said, his natural charisma rolling off in waves. "Sorry, what was your name again?"

"Cera, Cera Grace. But you can call me Cera." She flashed a set of winning teeth and flipped her glossy hair over the other side of her part. "That's Cera with a 'c', by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Cera with a 'c'. I'm the Doctor."

She tilted her head and pursed her lips in a very fish-like way. "Doctor who?"

"No, just the Doctor," he replied, chuckling. He gestured towards the bench opposite him. "This is Jackie and Rose Tyler."

Ignoring Jackie, Cera with a "c" looked her competition up and down and seemed to decide that she'd look much better in Rose's position. "Oh, hi."

"Hello," Rose answered. She schooled her features so the only thing the waiter saw was a glare that said, "Do not mess".

With an indignant huff Cera stalked to the cash register, ignoring a nearby customer who was waving at her impatiently.

The Doctor frowned. "What's wrong with her?"

"No idea," Rose replied innocently as she took another sip of her coke. Her equally-observant mother saw the Doctor's bemused expression and bit back a snort.

Clearly ready for them to be on their way, their waiter returned with the bill in record time. She practically threw it down on the table in front of the Doctor, who deftly slipped it across to Jackie.

As Rose's mum signed the slip, Cera with a "c" made one last attempt at seduction. "My shift ends in ten minutes, you know. If you're bored we could go and get a coffee."

"What do you mean?" The Doctor asked.

She lowered her eyes demurely and slowly traced the edge of the table closest to the Doctor, her voice becoming a seductive purr. "'S such a nice day." The Doctor was watching her fingers like a hawk. "Would be a shame not to feel the sunlight on your skin, taste the morning air…" Her fingers suddenly gripped the table until her knuckles turned white. "…take pleasure in new experiences…"

In a white-hot rage Rose stood abruptly, the movement causing Cera to quickly pull her hand away. "Well, we better get going," Rose said with an edge to her tone. "Don't wanna miss our flight, do we, Doctor?"

Her voice cut through his flirt-induced daze. "Right!" He stood so quickly he nearly knocked the table over. "Best be off. Only three hours, forty-three minutes, and eighteen seconds until take-off."

"Blimey, is it that late already? Why didn't you say something?" Jackie piped up, following Rose out of the booth. "You still have to pack, both of you."

"Mum, I told you, there's no need to pack. We're not even gonna be there the whole day."

"Yeah? And what if something happens? It's India. Hot, smelly, crowded India."

The Doctor frowned and mumbled. "You really need to stop watching so much tele."

Jackie and the Doctor left the chippy, still bickering, but Rose hesitated by the door. She glanced back at their waiter. Any other time Rose might have felt sorry for Cera with a "c" (wouldn't she had done something similar?), but her sympathy vanished when she saw the other woman give Rose a look that dripped with venom.

Rose answered with a cheery wink, and then rushed out to join the Doctor.

 

Less than an hour later the Doctor and Rose were standing outside the London-Heathrow Airport, International terminal. The Time Lord had been talking a mile a minute in the taxi earlier, but now that they were standing in front of the cement building he had fallen silent. As if the sheer domestic-ness of the situation had hit him in full force.

"You okay?" Rose asked him, her hand slipping into his.

The Doctor nodded quickly and turned back to her, a smile plastered on his face. "Yep. Brilliant. Molto bene."

But Rose was well past the point where his smiles fooled her. As she continued to look at him, the Doctor finally sighed and said, "Well. I have been better, I suppose."

She squeezed his hand. "We'll find Her."

"Yeah." He breathed, nodding. Then a grin split across the Doctor's face and he gently pulled at their clasped hands. "Come on!"

Rose giggled and leaned into the Doctor's arm, but her grin turned into a worried frown as they walked through the sliding glass doors and into a madhouse. Every British Airways counter had an enormous line in front of it, filled with a seemingly-endless amount of squabbling children and sullen faces. One woman was dragging along three pink suitcases behind her, stuffed to the brim, while a young couple nearby had their heads bent and were gesturing wildly with their hands, as if they were arguing about something. The Doctor and Rose, frozen in the middle of the crowded terminal, could only try their best to not get knocked aside by the hoards.

Rose did not miss the Doctor use their joined hands to pull her closer to him.

She looked up and saw that he was looking slightly panicked. The human crowd must be getting to him, Rose thought. Luckily she knew that the Time Lord responded well to logic. "Okay, no luggage to check in, so we can go straight to security," she said, thinking out loud. She silently thanked her mother profusely for letting them leave without packing. There wasn't even a need to print their tickets, since the travel agent had been nice enough to print them out for them at the agency. Rose glanced up at the Doctor's face, a difficult task due to the fact that Rose was pressed up against his arm and had to crane her neck. "You still have the tickets, yeah?"

"Rose Tyler, if you or your mother ask me that question one more time I think I might just staple these tickets to my forehead," he replied good-naturedly, reading into his pocket and pulling out said papers. "Here."

Rose held them in front of both of them and read the time printed there. "5:10." She glanced up at the digital clock hanging above the counters. "We've got time. On to security?"

"Guess so," the Doctor muttered, tightening his grip on his companion's hand as they passed a group of student musicians going on a band trip.

Moments later they were stuck behind one of the many slow-moving security lines. While waiting the Doctor and Rose alternated between friendly bantering and people watching, but most of the time was spent in tense silence. When he wasn't holding her hand, the Doctor's hands were wrist deep in his pockets, or else fiddling with a small mechanical toy. Rose had tried to watch what he was doing to the object, which looked as if it had been made with spare or useless parts, but his dexterous fingers were moving too fast for her to focus on for long.

In the end she settled on watching the throngs of normal people that passed them by, or else were standing in line with them. A woman with graying blond hair was sitting on an airport seat, a massive purse on her lap and her face creased in one long frown. She would occasionally check her phone, but other than that she was lost in her own world of worry. The man behind her and the Doctor was dressed in a smart business suit, and had a stainless steel travel mug in one hand and a black laptop case in the other. Every minute or so he would glance at his silver watch, look at how long the line still was, and curse. A business man late for his flight as there ever was one.

But in front of Rose was a small family that she couldn't keep her eyes off of. They were fascinating. The father, a man well into his thirties or forties, was smiling down at a little girl that must have been his daughter. The girl looked to be five or six, and was busy pointing to every Disney princess on her backpack and telling her father which ones were her favorites (all of them, it seemed) and their different stories. The mother, a woman probably in her mid-thirties, was directly in front of Rose and was faced away from her.

But in the woman's arms was a young toddler, no more than one or two, probably, and was staring at Rose over his mother's shoulder. He had big, dark brown eyes and a thin layer of wavy brown hair, and was wearing a red shirt with a car on it. Rose was instantly enchanted. When she first locked eyes with the toddler, she waved to him, and then smiled as the little boy turned quickly into the safe region of his mother's neck. But then, like any shy creature, his eyes would cautiously peep, and he'd duck them back again. Rose was sure she hadn't seen anything more cute and adorable in her life.

"Doctor," she whispered, tapping the Time Lord's elbow.

He hummed in response and glanced up from his work-in-progress, saw what Rose was referring to, and couldn't help smiling along with her. A little human toddler, so small in size and yet enormous in his potential. How could he not smile at that? The Doctor may have pretended to be aloof to certain things in his previous regenerations, but the young and youthful had always been his weak spot. And his current form, so young-looking and full of Rose's influence, seemed to be even more enamored with new life.

It was a sign of beginnings…but also one of endings. The Doctor could remember his first children, back on Gallifrey. How long ago that was compared to now, and yet the thought of them still managed to make his hearts clench in pain. And Rose looked so happy as she played peek-a-boo with the toddler. Babies, a proper family…add it to the list of all the things the Doctor couldn't give Rose if they were to ever become something more.

Perhaps because the Doctor was bored, or perhaps because he really wanted to hear Rose laugh again, but the 900-year-old Time Lord decided to entertain the toddler. He tweaked a couple of gears on his little contraption, and then, making sure the little boy's eyes were trained on him, pointed his sonic at it. The toy whirred to life and began spinning tiny wings, lifting itself off the ground like some kind of insect. Rose giggled at the Doctor's metal toy, but the toddler was beside himself. Once he got over the shock of seeing a piece of metal fly on its own, he was completely enthralled by the device and reached out his tiny hands towards it. The Doctor's triumphant grin widened, and with each flick of his sonic screwdriver the flying toy danced in and out of the infant's reach.

At the sound of her son's delighted squeals, the mother quickly turned around and stared wide-eyed as a strange man began making a metal wind-up toy do back-flips in mid-air. "Oh," she breathed. She had to readjust her hold on her infant son, as he twisted himself around to watch the toy once more. "What a fun little toy."

The man coughed in embarrassment and quickly gathered the toy back in his hands. The woman next to him, however, smiled and replied, "Yeah, the Doctor makes the best. What's the little guy's name?"

The woman smiled and glanced at the toddler, who was still watching the man's hands with interest. "Oliver. Can you say hi, Oliver?"

Oliver turned shy again, now that he was once again aware of all the surrounding people. But when the Doctor uncovered the metal device in his hand the toddler said, "Again!"

All three adults laughed at that, but instead of making the toy fly again, the Doctor twisted a few more nobs and zapped it with the sonic. He handed it to the mother. "Here," he said, "Just give it a few spins to get it going, and then let it fly."

Rose wondered at the Doctor's smile as he handed the woman the toy. Was it her, or did his smile look almost wistful?

"Thank you." The mother smiled, surprised but not ungrateful, and turned back towards her family. Within seconds the toy was wound up again and was flying in small circles all on its own.

Rose smiled and bumped her shoulder into the Doctor's side. He was still too serious for her liking. "Hey. That was nice. That Oliver's gonna love his new toy."

The Time Lord put the sonic screwdriver back in his coat and returned the smile. "Oh, you bet he will. Hope they don't show it to a toy maker, though. Automated wind-up toys aren't invented until the next century."

"You think you're so impressive," Rose answered. The Doctor hummed in self-satisfaction at her praise. But then Rose continued in a more serious tone. "But, aren't they gonna lose that toy up ahead? Airports use metal detectors."

"It's made out of a Sontaran metalloid called Mital-ha. The intergalactic equivalent of 21st-century Earth plastic. Which reminds me," the Doctor said. "What do you mean by metal detectors?"

Rose glanced at the Time Lord and was surprised to find a slightly worried look pass across his features. "They're metal detectors, yeah? They detect metal. Why?"

He took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "Rose, do you know how much stuff is in my pockets right now?"

"No."

"Neither do I." He ran the hand not holding Rose through his hair. "These pockets are bigger on the inside. We could be emptying them for a whole day and we won't even reach the inner pockets. I could have hundreds of suspicious, and metal, objects and never know."

"Blimey, you're hard to travel with," Rose muttered. She ignored the Doctor's affronted expression and said, "So you have a plan, yeah? Got a way to teleport us over there?"

"No. But if I know standard airport protocol…" Without hesitating the Doctor let go of Rose's hand and grabbed the sonic screwdriver. Using his coat as a barrier, he quickly zapped the distant metal detectors.

There was a burst of sparks from every machine, and then silence. After their initial shout of surprise, the surrounding people groaned in annoyance as it became clear that every metal detector had ceased to work. The security officer up ahead announced that they would have to do a pat down to every passenger. At that the business man behind Rose let loose a stream of curses that made even her flinch.

"Well, that's one way, I suppose," Rose muttered. The other disgruntled passengers were slowly drifting away to find a security check-point that worked (including the family of four, Rose was sad to note), but the Doctor practically dragged Rose through the crowds and to the security guards. Most everyone else had moved on, so they were able to be in the first group of people be patted down.

"Raise your arms, please," the man barked, clearly miffed about not being able to simply sit in a chair and examine people's belongings appear on a screen as they were sent through the scanner. Rose did as she was told, but did not pay much attention to the process as a whole. On the occasions she happened to glance at the Doctor, though, she felt the jealousy she had felt with Cera rise up again. Rose's examiner was very rough and business-like, but the Doctor's was clearly a woman admiring her prize. Every now and then Rose would catch the female security guard give an extra pat or two to certain areas, or let her hand slide just so. That should be me doing that—woah! Rose thought. Where did that thought come from?

Rose was so distracted by her own jealousy that she didn't notice that the Doctor was mirroring her expression. He was barely noticing the woman patting him down, but the male security guard situated unnervingly close to Rose? Though the man was very professional about the whole situation, the Doctor couldn't help but clench his fists whenever his hands approached certain parts of Rose's anatomy. I should be the only one to ever put my hands there—No, no, those thoughts were bad, the worst sort of bad. Especially when he had another human female nearby who might see the effects of his wayward thoughts and get the wrong idea.

The end to their respective pat-downs couldn't have come soon enough for either of them. They practically ran to each other once they reached the other side of the security check-point, stopping as soon as they were within arm's reach of each other.

"Hello," The Doctor said, a grin spilling onto his face in an effort to hide the last traces of jealousy from his features.

Rose noticed the quick change in expression, but did not comment on it, having undergone a similar emotional shift as well. "Hello," she mirrored. "That's that, then?"

"Yep." The Doctor popped the "p", as usual. "Trans-dimensional pockets. It'll take more than a simple pat-down to discern anything in this coat. And, as a parting gift…" He flashed his sonic screwdriver again, and with another zap all of the metal detectors blazed to life. The hearty cheer that rose from the crowd was all Rose needed to hear.

"Done," he muttered, slipping the device back into his coat.

"Are you showin' off?"

"What, me? Never." The Doctor answered, but he couldn't help smiling at his pink and yellow companion. No way to keep a straight face when he was looking at her. Without missing a tick the Time Lord turned away from the security guards and offered her his arm. "Shall we, Dame Rose?"

"I think we shall, Sir Doctor of TARDIS," Rose said, laughing and linking her arm with his. Sure, she'd seen another flash of pain cross his features at the mention of his beloved ship, but Rose just clenched his arm tighter in reassurance. Now past security, they were that much closer to reaching the blue box.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay: chapter 7, out by the end of this Saturday (maybe Sunday morning). See if I don't.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Up, up, and away we go!

3:35. The Doctor and Rose found a set of cushioned chairs outside their gate, gate 20, and watched airport workers through the window.

3:41. Rose was enthralled by the Doctor's tales of his previous encounters with airplanes. He never ended up naked, like Jack Harkness usually did, but he always seemed to encounter historical figures by accident. Orville and Wilbur Wrightbeing prominent examples.

"Had this companion in my, oh, fifth regeneration. Tegan Jovanka, her name was," the Doctor continued, his gaze becoming distant as he recalled days long gone. "She traveled with us by accident."

Rose furrowed her brown in confusion. Thanks to Sara Jane, she knew the Doctor had had companions before her, but he'd never hinted at how many. "Us?"

"Me, Nyssa, and Adric. Not the most peaceful of groups, though. There wasn't a day that went by where we didn't fight at one point or another. That's the bad part about lots of companions." He smiled at the memory. "Tegan wandered into the TARDIS by mistake and ended up traveling with us. Was there to see me regenerate into my fifth form, rescued us from the Master…but she demanded I take her back to Heathrow in 1981 so she could become a flight stewardess. Don't know if it was me or the TARDIS, but we kept missing the Heathrow Airport by a few decades. Once I accidently took her to the airport as it was in the 17th century, and it was a forest then."

Rose laughed at the image of a woman (who she imagined to have her mum's biting personality) walking out of the TARDIS doors expecting to see civilization, but being greeted by trees instead. But…five regenerations? What regeneration was he on now, if the Doctor was currently 900 years old? Rose wondered what the last of the Time Lords had looked like before he'd regenerated at all.

The Doctor's smile fell as he continued to stare at the space next to Rose's shoulder. "I wonder where she is," he muttered, so soft Rose could barely hear him. "How she is. If she's even still alive."

Rose closed her hand around his, and he gently squeezed it in gratitude. She wished she knew how to comfort him, but any words sounded inadequate in her head. How does one comfort a man who had lived the average human lifespan at least eleven times over?

4:13. They had managed to salvage a couple pounds from the depths of the Time Lord's pockets and had purchased a banana for the Doctor and a magazine for Rose. Then, with an excited hum, the Doctor pointed out that the plane was finally approaching their gate.

It was 4:50 and the Legendary Duo were finally seated in the plane, close to the back and on the left side. Rose had a tendency to take more trips to the loo while on an airplane, so she sat in the middle of the three seats and let the Doctor have the window seat. He didn't complain at her choice, since he so rarely saw planet Earth from this height.

But as he settled into his chair, the Doctor realized that maybe the window seat wasn't the best choice for his lanky body. His long legs were pressed into the back of the chair in front of him, and when he tried to lean his head back, the top of his head cleared the headrest. Not to mention the fact that the combined body heat of all the passengers made the cabin stifling for a Time Lord.

Rose, the Doctor noticed, was having no such problems, managing to fold and stretch her legs underneath her quite comfortably. And when another man slipped into the seat next to her, she was able to say a cheerful "hello" without any hint of nerves or stress.

"Hello, ma'am," the man replied. The Doctor was appraising him without even thinking about it. The man was American, judging by his accent, and a business man, if his wrinkle-free dark grey suit and teal-blue tie were anything to go by. He had blond hair, gelled so that it made a sweep across the top of his forehead, and wide blue eyes.

An honest face. A handsome face. A face that caused the Doctor to be filled with an uncomfortable feeling, like some dark and angry flush was seeping into his bloodstream. Suddenly he wanted this man as far away from Rose as possible. But why would he think that? This man looked nice enough, it was doubtful he was any sort of alien.

The answer was obvious, but the stubborn Time Lord refused to call such a feeling jealousy. Such breeds of envy were petty and low to members of the higher races and species, especially when one was feeling it over something as simple and rudimentary as jealousy over a mate.

But then Rose flashed the man one of her smiles, and the Doctor resisted the urge to snarl at his competition (at the human, he corrected himself). However, he did take pride in the fact that her smile to the American did not include her tongue. Those smiles must be reserved for him.

"What's your name?" she asked him.

"Stanley, Stanley Morgue, but my friends call me Stan."

Rose tilted her head slightly, like she was being playful. "And am I your friend?"

"Could be." Now he was flashing smiles at her, and the Doctor wanted nothing more than to grab Stanley Morgue by the coat lapels and throw him off the plane.

(No, no, that would be a very bad idea. Why am I feeling so hostile towards another human being? He's just being friendly. Come on, brain, get a hold of yourself.)

Stanley was talking again. "And what's your name?"

"Rose Tyler. And this," She leaned back in her seat to give the man a better view, "is the Doctor."

"Hello!" The Doctor said, grinning and shaking the American's hand like any other gentleman would. He hoped the daggers in his eyes weren't too noticeable.

As the rest of the plane filled with passengers, Rose seemed to decide that that was enough interaction with strangers for one day and returned to flipping through her magazine. But after at least five minutes of feeling the Doctor's eyes on her, she slipped the booklet into the pocket of the chair in front of her and turned to him. "What?"

The Doctor blinked in confusion and said, "You're so calm."

"Course I am. It's a plane flight." Rose's eyes widened. "You're scared of flying!"

"Am not!" the Doctor protested, but the pilot chose that moment to start up the plane.

Rose burst into laughter at the Doctor's panicked eyes and tense fingers as he clutched the arms of the chair. "You…you fly a police box that constantly needs to be repaired through all of time and space," she breathed between giggles. "And you're scared of being in a human airplane?"

"It's not—" He sucked in a breath as the plane began to move, and released it slowly. "It's not being in a plane that bothers me, it's that I can't see who's controlling it." Another bump, and the Doctor bunched his knees together, as if he was fully prepared to leap into the cockpit at the first sign of trouble. "How do you people cope?"

Rose finally let her chuckling subside. "Doctor, loads of people fly airplanes every day. The percentage of plane crashes per year isn't even big enough to reach 0.01%. Trust me, mum did her research." Overhead, the flight captain greeted the passengers through the intercom. "See? There's our captain."

"But there's no automated landing system, no back-up engines, hardly any protection from the outside…I'm telling you, Rose, there's a reason this technology becomes obsolete by the end of the 21st century. Everything's wrong, the material, the design, the—"

"Doctor." Rose grew serious. "Doctor, look at me."

He turned away from the window to face her, but with every bump his eyes flicked over to try and see what was happening. Only when Rose reached her right hand up to his cheek did he finally still. "Doctor, you'll be fine. We'll both be. To tell you the truth, I'm a bit nervous about this myself."

The Doctor frowned. The captain was listing all the safety guidelines for the aircraft but neither of them were listening. "You've never been on a plane?"

She shook her head. "Nope." She dropped her hand, and the Doctor fought the urge to grab her palm and return it to its rightful place.

"Then we'll sit this one through," he said instead. Another bump made the Doctor cringe, but this time, he wrapped his fingers around Rose's hand instead of the armrests. "Together."

As the plane's speed increased dramatically, Rose shut her eyes and bit her lip, while the Doctor refused to even blink once. Only when the infernal flying machine was safely above the cloud line did the Time Lord finally engage his respiratory bypass. With a few final words in English and Hindi (the Doctor could understand both even without the TARDIS translations), the captain ended his intercom speech with, "Please relax, and enjoy your flight."

Right, enjoy it, the Doctor mentally grumbled, Thanks for the tip.

Judging by the amount of laughter coming from his right side, it was clear that Rose had recovered from take-off, too. He turned to say something witty to her, but her head was completely turned away from him. And her hand was distinctly absent from his.

Then Stanley leaned forward a bit to address him. "Not fond of flying much, are you?" he asked. "Thought you were gonna rip off the armrests, there."

"I'm fine," the Doctor growled, but it was Rose's answering giggles that really riled him up. Two things were definite facts in this situation: one, like any man the Doctor had no wish to give any hint to this bloody American that he was weak or incompetent, and two…what did Rose think she was doing? Her interactions with this Stanley Morgue looked awfully similar to flirting. And if that flirting didn't happen between him and Rose (have they flirted?), then the Doctor didn't want her doing it with anyone else.

The Doctor still refused to label his feelings as jealousy, or as products of his slightly possessive side.

Rose, however, knew exactly what she was doing. She had had to sit through watching two different women, a waitress and an airport security guard, flirt with her Doctor. Was it so bad to want to give him a taste of how she had felt?

Regardless of the duo's feelings towards present situations and each other, the plane continued to soar past the clouds on its way to India.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to heat up, in more ways than one…And, yes, the angst hits our heroes hardest in this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aiming to finish this by Thanksgiving Break (not an impossible goal at this point). However, don't be surprised if I start dishing out other Fanfics in the meantime.

An hour into the flight, and they were still talking.

They talked about everything, from each other's hobbies (he loved to watch courtroom dramas), to their pets (he had two dachshunds), to the state of current, international political and economic affairs. Stan had been in his element during that last topic, even pulled up a presentation (that he made) on his laptop for her to see, but the Doctor could tell that Rose's eyes had started to glaze over on the second slide. He himself only listened with half an ear, not particularly caring why America's economy was headed for recession, and yet amused by the American's reactions all the same.

"So what do you think?" Stan asked Rose, sliding his laptop back into its case under his seat. "You're British, right? How're things in the UK?"

She shrugged and toyed with her left earring. "Don't know. Today was the first day I've been back in London in a while. And even growing up I wasn't very interested in politics."

"Ah," he replied. The sigh that came out of his lips sounded like he was grieving over something tragically infinite. "Shame that so few people care about the workings of the world these days. Citizens like me are few and far in between."

Rose opened her mouth to contradict his words (Stan wouldn't have this pompous an attitude if he knew how many such worlds Rose had helped save), but Stan had already shaken his perfectly blond head and moved on to the man on the other side of Rose.

"And what about you?" The Doctor regretfully turned from his stunning view of the German countryside. It only took one glance at Rose's irritated expression for him to find the source of her discomfort and react accordingly: give the American a stone-cold glare that would have made his previous regeneration proud.

Stan ignored his expression and continued, "You look like a worldly man. What do you think of current world affairs?"

He sounded like a bloody schoolteacher. But like any good student, the Doctor was all too happy to show Stanley Morgue what he knew. "I think," he began, "that you lot spend far too many of your precious seconds in statistics and measurements and not enough time thinking about the big picture."

Stan blinked and opened his mouth in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"Rude, Doctor," Rose murmured. Despite the worry lacing her tone she couldn't help the small smile that played across her lips. Clearly the Time Lord was not as unaffected by her actions as he had first appeared to be.

The Doctor was past caring what this American thought of him. "Stanley Morgue, you are a business man, correct?"

"More than that, my friend," Stan replied. "You're looking at the head negotiator between the United States and the United Kingdom, India, and China."

"Clearly, a man of enormous wealth and power." And I am not your friend, he thought. "And in all that time, do you have any family? Wife, kids? A proper house? After all those wasted moments have you made an impact on anyone?"

Rose's smile was gone now and she glanced at the two bickering men worriedly, especially at the Time Lord. Even her first Doctor had had a mean rude streak going, but this? Stanley wasn't being the nicest person in the world, but he wasn't spitting insults or acting like the worst example of the human race either. "Doctor…"

They both ignored her. "I have friends," Stan retorted. "Some in very high places, I'll have you know." The glance he shot Rose was so quick the Doctor nearly missed it. "A lot higher than yours."

"And what, exactly," the Doctor growled, "are you implying?" This thick-headed ape of a human could insult him all he'd like, but anything towards Rose was where he drew the line.

But instead of taking the bait, Stan rose with a challenge of his own. "And who are you to say so, anyway? Who are you? What exactly are you a doctor of?"

"Time and space."

"Oh, please, really now—"

Rose had had it. "Stop it, both of you!" she snapped, giving both men her best Jackie Tyler glare. Their mouths snapped shut, but the fire in both of their eyes continued to smolder.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to visit the lavatory," Stan said. He lurched up from his seat and walked quickly to the back of the plane, leaving the Doctor and Rose alone.

Rose shot the Doctor a glare, but although she had plenty she wanted to say to him, she had no way of prioritizing her thoughts. Should she try and get straight to the point, or settle into their pattern of (routine) ignoring, (maybe) forgiving, and (mostly) forgetting? And all that talk about family and having an impact on someone…where did that come from? Rose had always thought of the Doctor as someone who just didn't do domestics. If he had friends, they were his companions, and he never visited them again after their time on the TARDIS. If he had family, they had all been killed in the Time War and had left the last Time Lord with a massive hole in his hearts that could never be filled. Even by someone as human as herself. And as for leaving one's mark on history or someone, well, the Doctor had that down to an unintentional science.

Perhaps what surprised Rose wasn't the words themselves, but why he had chosen to say those exact thoughts to an American they've only known for an hour, and not her. Was it not the previous form of the Doctor who had taught Rose that sometimes the best moments in life were the small, fleeting, and, occasionally, ordinary? Was it not the current Doctor who assured her that she was more than just a shop girl without her A-levels? Who was she to him now, since she had to hear an inkling of his true thoughts in third-person?

The Doctor opened his mouth, but Rose beat him to it. "What was that for?" she hissed.

"He was rude to you." He shifted in his seat, but thankfully he did not attempt to avoid her by looking out the plane window.

"Yeah, and you were being rude to him," she retorted. "Doctor, he's human and a working man, you can't expect him to go out of his way to save the world."

"Exactly, Rose. He's so human!" The Doctor adjusted his legs beneath him (there was barely any room for them in the space between him and the seat in front of him) and flexed his empty right hand, but made no move to grab her clenched hands. "Not a speck of imagination in that head. Honestly, I don't know what you see in him."

"What I see in him?!" A passing flight attendant made hushing noises at them, and Rose lowered her voice to a furious whisper. "Where did you get that idea?"

The Doctor also lowered his voice, but like Rose's, his tone retained its intensity. "You were flirting with him!"

"Oh, possessive, much? Worried your precious human companion's going to find someone better?"

"Yes!" His eyes widened and he quickly tried to retract the statement, to no avail. "Well, no, a bit…Rose, he's just a business man!"

"So? Too ordinary for you?" She heard another flight attendant behind her, asking whether they'd like something to drink. The lady moved on after it became clear to her that the pair were not focusing on anything besides each other at the moment.

The Doctor blew out a puff of air and tried to force himself to think his next words through, but his reply came out of his mouth before he could stop it. "Rose, you are the most brilliant and fantastic human being I have ever met, and you deserve better. You should have someone who wouldn't hesitate to throw his life away and join you on the slow, domestic path. Someone who could give you a proper family, and keep all of you and all of your loved ones safe. Someone who'd wrap up the universe in a box and give it to you for Christmas."

She levelled her eyes at him. "Someone like you?"

Oh, now he'd done it. The awkward silence felt thick and heavy between them, and the Doctor was biting the inside of his cheek to keep from breaking it with more careless words. What was Rose going to think of him now? He'd be surprised if she didn't think he was nothing more than a desperate bloke with attachment issues. The Doctor couldn't be that man for her, not ever. But, oh, how he wished for it, how he yearned for the chance to hold her as close as any lover and tell her exactly what she was to him.

Why can't you?, the little voice inside the Doctor's head said. He pushed the voice aside, not willing to dwell on the long list of reasons while Rose was in front of him, so kissable and yet, so unattainable.

Rose, however, was busy processing her words to him and felt miserable because of them. Yes, she wanted that kind of man. But she also wanted the Doctor, in that way. And while she had desperately clung to the thin hope that maybe the Doctor could be both, now it was clear that he was somehow incapable of even attempting such a transformation. She wished this new revelation didn't hurt so much.

The emotional rollercoaster Rose was going through drove her to let the words she'd been holding back for so long spill out. "Of course I want a man like that, Doctor. Any girl who's ever watched a Disney princess movie wants that," she said. "And yeah, maybe an ambassador from America is not right for me. Maybe he drinks, or watches too much football, or doesn't really love me. He can't take me to see Woman Wept or Charles Dickens or a planet orbiting a black hole. But do you know what he could be?" Rose made sure the Doctor was looking right at her. "He might not be afraid to tell me exactly how he feels. Maybe with him, I don't have to worry all the time about be sent home because some situation is deemed 'too dangerous'. Maybe, I won't have to fear being left alone on an abandoned spaceship while he goes off to snog the uncrowned queen of France!"

The Doctor stared at her, shocked into a guilty silence. Of course she'd brought up Madame de Pompadour. That whole ordeal had been weeks ago and yet it was clear that Rose had not brushed it off as easily as the Doctor had. How many other moments still pressed heavily on her mind? Too many, if his human companion was still afraid of him abandoning her should a situation prove dire.

And it was all true, wasn't it? If it was a choice between him or Rose dying he would always choose the former. Who needed a grouchy old Time Lord in this universe? It was Rose who had all that potential in front of her. She shouldn't stop making people better because of him.

Because Doctor remembered the beast in the pit. It had said she would die in battle…and he'd refused to believe it. But he didn't have to believe in something to fear it, so he'd run, dragging Rose along behind him. He started aiming for safe, boring planets and the Powell Estate, over and over, because he was a doctor who believed that the best cure for anything was avoidance and prevention. It'd been boring for them both. But Rose was safe, for now, and he could believe that maybe it had all been worth it. Right?  
No, the Doctor thought, not quite. Because he'd forgotten to protect his heart in the meantime, and now he was learning the hard way that he simply couldn't stand Rose being hurt. Or seeing her be with anyone else but him. It scared him, these feelings. They bloody well terrified him.

But right now the Doctor knew that somehow, someway, he had to fix this. Whatever this was, of course. If there was one thing this 21st-century airplane was good for it was preventing both the Doctor and Rose from running from this. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing remained to be seen. He just had to make her understand… "Rose…" he said.

She glanced at him and whispered, "Yes, Doctor?" Her eyes were already brimming with tears that could never be shed, and behind her irises he could see the impulse to run and hide. The Doctor cursed inwardly. She was just as scared as he was.

He took a deep breath. "Rose, I…I'm sorry. I've made so many mistakes. With everyone, it seems. And now I've broken the one vow I had intended to keep and that was to keep you safe. Seems I can't even do that right, because I couldn't protect you from the one who might hurt you the most. That's me, by the way."

"Doctor—"

"No, Rose, please. I need to say this." Despite her clenched posture, the Doctor rested his right hand on her arm. "My point is that there are some things I can't do. But never, for one second, think that I…care for you any less because of it. Just because I can't be a man like Stanley Morgue doesn't mean I can't be here for you when you need it. When you need me. I can't promise you I can keep you safe, or that I won't try and save you when the occasion arises—because there is no way in the universe I can make that kind of a promise—but maybe, if only for a little while, I could be here. With you, and for you." He smiled. "You're brilliant, Rose. You've saved me more times than I can count and, well, how could I ever repay that kind of a debt? But I'll try, Rose. Every day, every hour, every second on the Earth clock, for as long as we've got together. And, oh, would you look at that, I've made you cry."

She was indeed crying, and with a small sniffle that barely escaped her lips she buried her head in the Doctor's shoulders, letting his arms encircle her tightly. He whispered comforting noises and words to her as he drew circles on her back, not caring that she was probably getting his magnificent brown coat wet, or that Stanley Morgue had finally returned from the loo and was giving the pair sidelong glances as he settled back into his seat on the other side of Rose.

They settled back into more comfortable conversation territory, occasionally bringing Stan into the discussion when they needed a third opinion in some friendly argument or other. It was strange for the Doctor, sitting in a human vessel and experiencing Time as it was meant to be spent, with no countdowns or "final moments". He was so used to running from place to place, with the normal progression of Time seeming slow and dreary in comparison. But now, talking with Rose (and Stan, though he still treated the other man with caution) on the airplane, the Doctor discovered that Time could actually move quite fast when one didn't wish it to. Before he knew it he looked out the window and saw that it was pitch black, with only a smattering of lights below them.

"Must be above the Czech Republic now," Stan said, through the window over Rose and the Doctor's shoulders.

"How long till we reach India?" Rose asked, glancing at the Doctor.

"About six hours." He turned towards her, a warm smile spreading across his face. "You should get some sleep. Can't go looking for the TARDIS with a tired companion, now can I?"

She smiled, the tip of her tongue peeking through her teeth, but there was a hint of exhaustion there that colored her mirth. "Hope it's not too much 'looking', Doctor. I'm not gonna comb dark alleys with you at three in the morning."

The Doctor looked at her with eyebrows raised. "Rose Tyler, are you doubting my frankly magnificent ability to locate my telepathic ship?"

She giggled, and the Doctor felt himself join her. But then, without any hesitation, Rose lifted up the armrest separating her and her Doctor and snuggled against the Time Lord's right side. Her head rested against his shoulder, and the Doctor sighed in contentment.

"What's the, uh, TARDIS, was it?" Stanley Morgue asked innocently. "The name of a street?"

"Not quite," the Doctor replied, but that was all he was willing to say on the matter. He rested his own head on Rose's hair and breathed her in. Below, the country of Czech Republic disappeared on the left side of the window, and the Doctor watched as Slovakia appeared on the right. Stars twinkled in the sky above, but for the first time, he had no desire to move from his current position so he could see them better. They'll be there in six hours, he thought, noticing his own drowsiness creeping into his brain processes. How long had it been since he'd had a good night sleep? It'd been a couple nights, for sure, since that failed attempt at sleep at the Powell Estate didn't count. The Doctor smiled slightly and abandoned his calculations, allowing himself to close his eyes and relax for what seemed like the first time in centuries. He fell asleep with the scent of Rose wrapping around him like a winter scarf.

Below, amidst the electric lights of cities and towns, some humans slept and dreamed of pleasant memories. Some woke with a start and shook so much they couldn't fall asleep again. Others were men with blackened hearts, who used the night as cover for their wicked deeds and desires. And still others were men and women of little consequence, who worked the night shifts of fast-food restaurants and department stores for some reason or other. People who might never accomplish anything significant in their lives, but were willing to live their days the best they could for the sake of their loved ones and their own sanity.

But the Doctor and Rose slept against each other in a flying machine made of steel instead of blue wood, feeling safe and secure in their own little world above the powder sky.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here it is: the last chapter, full of fluff, angst, guy bonding, and a happy ending. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. Though this story comes to a close, I still have plenty of ideas to get down on paper. As usual, comments/mini-reviews are always appreciated. Keep writing, you wonderful people! (And aliens – who am I to be discriminatory?)

The Doctor had always had an aversion to sleep. Who would want to succumb to the body's need for unconsciousness when there was a whole universe out there, begging to be discovered? Sleep forced the Doctor to spend less time with his human companions, and hastened the day those same companions would leave his company forever. And the constant nightmares that threatened the Doctor's attempts at sleep were no help, either.

But as he came back to awareness exactly five hours, forty-five minutes and two seconds later, and woke to the smell of Rose Tyler, the Doctor had to admit that maybe sleep wasn't so bad after all.

The Doctor raised his head slightly (Rose looked so comfortable on his shoulder, it would be a crime to wake her) and saw that little had changed since he'd nodded off. The world was still dark outside the plane window, with only the barest hint of light coming from the west to show that time had passed. On the Doctor's other side, Stanley Morgue had his neck nestled in a black travel pillow and was reading a novel. Rose was in roughly the same position she'd fallen asleep in, except now her entire body was pressed up against him, and her hands had found their way underneath his brown overcoat. Not that he was complaining. The rest of the plane was silent except for the never-ending drone of the engines.

Careful not to wake Rose, the Doctor savored the chance to leisurely stretch every muscle he could, starting with his ankles and ending with his jaw. A particularly loud pop from his wrists made the Doctor wince, but his companion only shifted slightly and continued to sleep.

"Good morning," Stanley said, soft enough that Rose wouldn't be disturbed. The Doctor looked at the American over the top of his companion's blond head, still wary from their argument earlier. But the other man's eyes had lost their harshness, returning to the kindness of before. Stan seemed to have overcome his earlier anger in those five hours.

And if this stubborn human male was choosing peace, who was the Doctor to complain? "Morning," he replied as he began to rub circles on the back of Rose's hand. "Did you sleep?"

Stan shook his head and closed his book, which the Doctor could now see was titled False Impressions and written by a man named Jeremy Archer. Krantz is shot and sent to prison, the painting is sold to a Japanese company and Jack Delaney has enough evidence to arrest Fenston, the Time Lord remembered, having read the book more than once in the TARDIS library. "There's no sleeping on planes for me," Stan said. "Not enough leg room."

The Doctor grinned knowingly and adjusted his legs for the third time since waking up. "I know what you mean."

Stanley opened his mouth, but then he closed it and grimaced slightly. "Uh, listen, Doctor. I am very sorry for what I said. Earlier, I mean."

"No, no, it was my fault. What I said was entirely uncalled for and I shouldn't have let myself get carried away."

"But it was true, you know. All of it." Stanley Morgue looked down at his fingers, which were busy rubbing each digit in turn. "I'm almost considered middle-aged. Little gray hairs and minor back pain greet me in the morning, and they're only gonna get worse. More than four decades of my life has gone by and what do I have to show for it? An apartment on the south side of San Francisco, and two dogs that are older than I am."

The Doctor frowned. Humans were special, every one of them. But Stan's words sounded rehearsed, like he'd had these kinds of debates with himself before. The Doctor didn't know if he could relate to Stan, but looking at the American sitting two seats away from him reminded him of Rose and Jackie, and how both of them were nothing close to world leaders or Nobel Prize winners. But they both kept going, and that was what made the human race so frighteningly unconquerable in the Doctor's eyes. Rose would probably have been a day-to-day shop girl if he hadn't blown Henrik's sky high.

"But you've helped people, with this international job of yours," the Doctor told him.

Stan chuckled. "Oh, sure, those few members of some congress or other have been impacted by my words on occasion, but what's that got to do with anything? My words get the job done, and seconds later they're forgotten. History that's not worth repeating. I'm told to make up new words and speeches, because apparently, what I did before is considered too old by a day and a half."

The Doctor didn't know what to say to that, and instead glanced down at Rose, who still lay with her head nestled on his shoulder. Stanley followed his gaze and smiled sadly. "Had a girlfriend, you know. Pretty, smart, on her way to becoming the most successful woman in her field. But, she had to leave. Her family needed her back home. Not to mention…" His smile looked too wide to be genuine. "Why would a nice Indian family like them want their daughter to marry a common American like me?"

"She's in India," the Doctor said, his brows drawing together. "You're not just going there for business, are you?"

The other man shook his head and looked down at his hands. Before the Doctor could say a few comforting words, Stan looked up again and stared at Rose. "You Brits. I used to almost hate you. Your pretty accent, thinking your better than us Americans, always getting what you want…"

Stanley shook his head again and leaned back in his cushioned chair casually, but his blue eyes stayed locked with the Doctor's brown ones. "I don't know what you do for a living, Doctor," he said, "but I do know one thing. This woman, Rose. Who is she to you?"

The Doctor was not expecting this question, but his answer still came frighteningly fast. Rose was, well, Rose. She's saved him more times than he can count, with her words, her actions, and even just the simple fact of her existence. She's his light, his opposite, and like the opposing ends of two magnets Rose and the Doctor were probably destined to always connect perfectly like the pieces of a puzzle. He would occasionally wonder if this outcome was a fixed point in every universe and pocket-universe in all of creation. How could he say what Rose was to him in a few sentences? And in the human English language, no less, which, for all its versatility, had a surprising lack of words for lo—companionship when compared to the Heavenite language.

But Stan knew what his hesitation meant. The American smiled. "She's that incredible, huh? She's the one?"

What else could the Doctor do but nod? Beside him, Rose shifted again in her sleep, as if she could tell that they were talking about her.

Stanley grew serious once more. "She's certainly one of a kind, Doctor. And if she doesn't know that by now, if she doesn't know what she is in your eyes, she should. Sometime soon, at least." His eyes left the Doctor's and settled back on his clasped hands. "Tell her. Before you find that you're no longer able to."

The Doctor nodded in a solemn promise, but his own doubts were destroying his newfound resolve. Tell her? Just say everything he should have told Rose after Utah, after the game station, after New Earth, after the planet orbiting the black hole? He was more inclined to run as far as possible from such domestic discussions, and had done so in the past successfully. Multiple times. Except, the Doctor had soon learned that even 17th-century France wasn't far enough to outrun his feelings for Rose Marion Tyler.

And besides, now that he thought about it, domestics with Rose might not prove to be so bad after all.

A gust of wind suddenly buffeted the plane and the Doctor had to catch his companion by her shoulders to keep her from sliding off him. Rose woke with a start, but her face broke into a smile when she saw who was beside her.

"Hello," she said shyly.

"Hello." It was a customary greeting, and safe. The Doctor only hoped the slight panic in his eyes wasn't too noticeable.

A small smile played across her face. "Hello."

"You've said that twice now."

"Oh," Rose breathed, looking away. She remembered the first time she'd been in the arms of a handsome stranger, back during the London blitz. However, she had to admit that the Doctor was a much more welcome sight than Jack Harkness.

It was then that Rose realized how close she was to the Doctor. Her hands were wrist deep in his brown coat, her legs were settled along his like a second pant leg, and their heads were so close together they were practically breathing the same air. In Rose's mind, this was a very pleasant, if not promising, situation, but she refused to put the Doctor in a position (literally or figuratively) where he was uncomfortable. She carefully extracted herself from him and muttered a quick, "Sorry."

"Nothing to worry about," the Doctor replied in his usual upbeat tone. But he was only trying to hide his discomfort. The places where Rose had been touching him now felt cold and vacant without her. And he hated to see his companion apologetic about something that wasn't her fault. If anything, it should be the Doctor apologizing to her for using up a portion of her body heat.

Rose nodded and put a small shield over her face as well ("nothing to worry about"? Did he sleep like that with all of his companions?). She turned towards Stanley, who was watching them with a polite smile on his face, and said, "Morning, Stan. I hope I didn't kick you while I was asleep or anything."

"Oh, no, nothing like that. You both are sound sleepers." He flicked his eyes towards the Doctor and the Time Lord was reminded of their earlier conversation. Tell her, his eyes seemed to say. The Doctor could practically feel the lecturing tone behind the unspoken words.

The overhead speakers suddenly blared to life and their pilot spoke. The plane was finally close enough to India to begin its descent.

Stanley flashed Rose a smile. "Almost there. Should be on Indian soil in a half hour or so."

She gave an answering smile, but her stomach was starting to feel the drop of altitude. Rose had to bite her tongue to keep from retching. "Doctor—"

"Yes?" He answered curtly.

Rose turned towards him and realized that the Time Lord was taking this even worse than she was. His hands were gripping the arms of the chairs and his eyes were squeezed shut, while his mouth remained in a firm line. When he didn't hear his companion continue talking, he tentatively cracked one eye open.

"Doctor, are you okay?" She placed a comforting hand on his arm and he instantly relaxed. Slightly. "I'm sure this pilot's landed planes loads of times."

"But what if it's his first time?" The Doctor's eyes were open now, but they swung widely, from Rose, to the window, to the ceiling, to the front of the plane where the cockpit was supposed to be. "Rose, so many things could go wrong. The engines could give out and we'd have no way to repair them. The wings could hit another plane that's just as cumbersome as this one. Invading Sontarans could come at us from above and we'd be defenseless."

"Sontarans?" Rose asked, letting a small smile spread across her face despite her own shaking. "Who are they, then?"

"Does it matter?"

The Doctor looked to be nearing a panic attack. Good thing Rose knew that the Time Lord could never panic while rambling on about something. "Yes, it matters. What if we get invaded? Now tell me, what are Sontarans?"

"Uh, well…" He tried to glance out the window to watch as more of city of New Dehli came into view, but attempting to see impending doom while Rose Tyler stroked his arm was very difficult. "Sontarans are warriors. A clone race that values warfare above all else. They look a bit like a potato and their weak spot is behind the back of their neck."

Another bout of turbulence jostled the plane and the Doctor's legs twitched, as if he was fully prepared to launch himself to the plane's cockpit if the need arose. Rose silently thanked seatbelts and tried to keep him talking. "Okay, cloned warrior potatoes. Sounds fun. Keep talking, okay? Who was their first leader? What do they smell like?"

"Smell like—Rose, those things don't matter." His eyes locked onto hers and she saw a desperation in his irises that terrified her. Rose could see that their plane was about to touch down but decided that now was probably not the best time to tell him about that. "Everyone on this plane could die. I could die. More importantly, you could die. Of course, you're going to die eventually so it shouldn't be this big of a deal but still—"

Rose sighed, glad she finally knew the cause for his panic but still confused as to why. Hadn't they been through this before? "Doctor, I won't die. Not yet." She bit her lip. "That's what the thing in the pit said, yeah? I was gonna die in battle."

The Doctor's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he suddenly threw his arms her (as well as he could, considering he was still confined to a cushioned chair), burying his head in her neck. He muttered, so soft Rose could barely hear him, "No, Rose, it lied, you will not die in battle. I refuse to see that as a possibility. Not before I tell you that I—"

The plane's wheels hit the ground and the sound of the impact cut off whatever words he had been about to say. But the possibilities of what those next two words could have been made Rose's heart shut down and jump straight out of her chest at the same time. Had he been about to say it? Would he try to say them again?

The Time Lord was still latching on to Rose for dear life. When the plane had quieted down some, she whispered, "Doctor?"

At the sound of his name the Doctor quickly backed up and reverted back to his own self without even a pause for breath. "New Delhi! One of the greatest cities in India. Oh, alien planets are rubbish compared to this place, Rose. Personally I prefer Bombay for their markets, but the TARDIS didn't end up there."

The disappointment Rose felt at not hearing those three glorious words come out of the Doctor's mouth was dashed away at the mention of the beloved ship. "The TARDIS!" She said, letting the new excitement take over her features in a very Doctor-like fashion. "Is it close?"

"Oh, it's close, alright," the Doctor said, grinning. His smile only got wider when he looked out the tiny plane window.

Rose peered around him and let out an excited cheer. There was the TARDIS, sitting in the middle of a small patch of grass as innocently as any trash can.

"Found what you were looking for, then?" Stanley asked over Rose's shoulder.

"Yep!" Rose answered, popping her "p" like the Doctor had a habit of doing. She didn't miss the sly grin or the wink he sent her.

Stan nodded and set his laptop case on his lap. "So what is this TARDIS thing? Some kind of car?"

The Doctor and Rose laughed knowingly. "Well, She's a bit like a car," the former answered, "but also a bit like a space ship. And a house, a really, really big house. And She's sentient and telepathic, so there's that…Oh, and She can travel in time! How 'bout that, Stanley Morgue?"

Stanley allowed a few chuckles to escape him, but he was not entirely sure whether they were serious. "What a life you two lead," he finally said.

"Not as great as yours, though," Rose told him. "You're traveling all over the world, helping countries get along with one another. That's pretty impressive! Before the Doctor I worked at a department store in downtown London."

"We all start somewhere, I suppose," Stan muttered. He glanced towards the Doctor again. "And after him?"

Rose smiled then, a genuine smile that happened to coincide with the plane's interior lights being switched on. "All of time and space, Stanley."

Stan could see why the Doctor loved this woman so much. But although the pair painfully reminded him of what he and his love, Shea, had been, he couldn't help but be inspired by them as well. Maybe there was hope for his middle-aged heart yet.

Moments later the trio stood outside the airport baggage claim. Rose threw her arms around Stanley's broad shoulders and dared to give the American a peck on the cheek, ignoring the small sound of protest coming from the Doctor. When Stan turned to him, the Time Lord settled for a strong handshake. A look of understanding passed between both of them.

"Good luck," the Doctor said, meaning much more than just business deals.

The other man flicked his eyes towards Rose. "You, too," he replied. He nodded to Rose again, and then hoisted his baggage and walked towards the exit. Families were already lining the rails, holding signs to welcome their loved ones home.

As Stanley walked away, Rose slipped her hand into the Doctor's and grinned at him, her tongue appearing between her teeth. "Did you have some kind of man-to-man bonding moment while I was sleeping?"

His face was the picture of innocence. "I assure you, Rose, it was nothing more than a friendly chat between two males of different species." He smiled. "Although, I admit, he was a very agreeable sort of man."

Rose smiled, and the Doctor gripped her hand tighter and turned them around, already rambling on at random. And Rose let him. Neither of them could have known it, but both Rose and her Doctor were more than ready to take their relationship to that level. It would take a disaster of epic proportions for them to admit it, however.

But they would, as every version of the Doctor and Rose would across every universe and pocket-universe, at one point or another.

Stanley Morgue glanced behind him just before walking out of the baggage claim, and watched as the strange pair he'd met on the plane leave the airport. They're hands were clasped, her head was on his arm, and he was staring down at her with eyes of pure adoration. Yes, he thought, they'll be alright in the end.

And then he turned back around and saw that one member of the crowd of greeters was looking at him. It was a woman, dark-skinned and smiling and oh, so beautiful. Shea. Stanley Morgue smiled. Yes, he thought as he began to jog towards her, I think I'll be alright, too.


End file.
